Early Mistakes Ruin Homecoming For Hunter Huss

               Both teams were 2-0 in conference play and looking to keep it going. Hunter Huss won the Big South 3A/2A conference last year with a 7-0 record. In order to keep that streak going, they would have to play great ball against a strong Kings Mountain team. That was not the case early on as the Mountaineers were successful on the opening on-side kick.

                Kings Mountain would capitalize with a two-yard touchdown run by Qua Brooks. Micah Randall’s extra point made it 7-0. The Huskies were unable to find the end zone so they relied on the foot of Trevor Hargett to get them on the board. He did just that with a 42-yard field goal to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 7-3. Special teams mistakes continued to plague Hunter Huss as the Huskies muffed a punt. They were able to stop Kings Mountain on that drive. But a partially blocked punt in the second quarter set Kings Mountain up in great field position.

                The Mountaineers extended the lead with an 18-yard run by Ricaylen Mack. The extra point by Randall made it 14-3. Hargett kicked another field goal for the Huskies before half-time. This time it was from 32 yards out. That made it 14-6 at half-time.

                The second half would be all Kings Mountain. Micah Randall gave Kings Mountain the 17-6 lead with a 44-yard field-goal. Then on their next drive, they would be assisted by two 15-yard penalties on the Huskies. That gave quarterback Kaylon Wade a chance to hit Dontavious Hughes for an 11-yard touchdown pass. The extra point kick was missed however.

                The Huskies would continue to shoot themselves in the foot. A fumble in the end zone by Crawford Chandler put another two points on the board for the Mountaineers for the safety. Mack’s 20-yard touchdown run and Randall’s extra point kick made the score 32-6 before the third quarter was over and it would be an even taller mountain for the Huskies to climb.

                Que Brooks’s 83-yard touchdown run buried Huss even deeper. But the Huskies did finally put a touchdown on the board with a 48-yard pass from Zo Wallace to Crawford Chandler with less than a minute to go. Hargett’s extra point kick was good.

                “It was a big win and I was tickled with how well our team played. I thought everybody contributed in all three phases tonight and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys.” said Kings Mountain head coach Greg Lloyd “We’ve been a good second half team all year for whatever reason so that kind of continued on tonight. They (Huss) have a fantastic team. They got great athletes. They’re tough!”

                “Against a strong team such as this, you can’t turn the ball over. We had two costly turnovers to start this ball game.” said Hunter Huss head coach Jamar McCoy “We played behind the sticks and played behind on the scoreboard all night long. We just never recovered. We had some kids get disqualified because of some hits.”

                Ricaylen Mack led Kings Mountain with 117 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Zo Wallace led Hunter Huss with 146 yards passing and a touchdown. The Mountaineers make another trip to Gastonia next week as they take on Ashbrook. The Green Wave lost 38-20 to Crest. Hunter Huss travels to play the Crest Chargers next week.