Saturday, October 29, 2016

Huskies Slaughter Jaguars, Claim Share of Conference Title

                The message was sent and it was sent early and often. The Hunter Huss Huskies in the driver’s seat for the Big South 3A/2A conference title had no intentions of sharing it. The Huskies did something earlier this year that they have not done in ten years and that is beat South Point. Another thing they haven’t done is beat Forestview at Huss. They decided that also was ten years too many as they blistered the visiting Jaguars 39-6 and it wasn’t even that close.

                The Huskies drove deep into Forestview territory on their first drive, but would stall. That would not be the case on their next drive as Jaquavious Butler put the Huskies on the board with a five-yard touchdown run.  The kick was blocked. But it was only the beginning. Freshman quarterback Zo Wallace extended the Huskies’ lead with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Antwanez Barnett. The run for the two-point conversion failed, however.

                The scoring slowed down for the Huskies until Forestview’s quarterback Mac England was sacked deep in Forestview territory by Devin Harrell. The sack caused a fumble that was recovered by Amari Torrence. Wallace and Barnett would connect for another touchdown pass. This time it was for 13 yards out. The extra point kick by Trevor Hargett was good. With the Jaguars’ offense stuck in neutral and having to punt on fourth down, the special teams went into their bag of tricks as kicker Holt Cloninger faked the punt and hit Tramone Duncan on a short pass route. Duncan took it 35 yards to the Huskies’ 30-yard line. But the Jaguars would fumble any chance to put points on the board.

                The Huskies would fumble it back right before half-time, but it wouldn’t matter. The Huskies got the ball back in the second half. They did not have a hard time moving the ball, but penalties would keep them from putting more points on the board. The third quarter would remain a scoreless stalemate.

                But in the fourth quarter, the onslaught continued. Backup quarterback Crawford Chandler got in on the fun and dashed out for a 54-yard touchdown run. Hargett’s kick was good and the score was 26-0. The Jaguars were able to get on the scoreboard with a 27-yard run by Jayveon Love. The kick was no good, however.

                Xavier Holmes scorched the worn-out Forestview defense with another long touchdown run. This time it was from 53 yards out. Chandler’s 57-yard touchdown run and Hargett’s extra point put the Huskies up 39-6. The Huskies’ offense put on a great show and the defense tormented the Jaguars’ offense all night. Devin Harrell led the Huskies defense with five sacks, including a forced fumble. Amari Torrence recovered two fumbles for the Huskies and Tony Davis intercepted a Mac England pass early in the game. Crawford Chandler led the Huskies offense with 134 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Jaquavious Butler amassed 112 yards rushing and a touchdown. Zo Wallace had 146 yards passing and two touchdowns.

                The Huskies win their first conference title since 1996. They can win it outright with a win at Ashbrook next week.

                “It feels good to get us back to the conference title and playing the way we are.” said Hunter Huss head coach Jamar McCoy “The help paved the way. We’ve got a great coaching staff and the kids are buying in to what got going and it’s an extremely fun time to be a Husky.”

                “The kids understood how good they could be.” McCoy said after overcoming an 0-3 start “We lost those games by a combined nine points and we just kept telling them ‘we are better than these one point losses, five point losses’ and it has gotten to the point where they’ve bought totally in and they understand the concepts.”

                “Devin Harrell is a monster out there. He’s a talent on defense and I’m happy I don’t have to play against him.” McCoy said on Harrell’s five sack performance “I’m super proud of him. This is something we will celebrate next week. He had a career type night with five sacks.”

                “We’re blessed here to be able to go two, sometimes three, deep at different positions.” McCoy said of his depth and his backups “We are stocked full with athletes. Xavier Holmes is listed as our third string back but he could be a starter anywhere else. He’s a humble kid and he’s super aggressive when he gets the ball. I’m super proud of him. Even our back quarterback, Crawford Chandler, came in and had two long touchdown runs. He’s a ball player.”

                “The deal is not done yet.” McCoy said on the conference title “Next week is even bigger than this week. Our next opponent is our best opponent. Right now, it’s a one game season. You get in the playoffs and you lose, you go home. You don’t come this far just to come this far. You come this far to win titles.”

                “They’re a good team. They played good. Give them a lot of credit.” Said Forestview head coach Chris Medlin of Hunter Huss “They’ve made a little run. They’ve won seven in a row. They got good speed, good size and they’re physical. It’s a good combination to have. They got a good defense. All you can do is come to work Monday. We got one more left and we’ll see what happens after that.”

                Hunter Huss travels to face traditional cross-town rival, Ashbrook, next week. Forestview will have their home finale against East Gaston.

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