Jayson Larson
The Athens Review
LONGVIEW —
The first Athens Hornets win of the 2010 season will be remembered as the blowout that turned into a shootout.
After obliterating Spring Hill for the first two quarters, the Hornets found themselves having to hang on tight for a 28-19 win Friday night.
The Hornets (1-1) picked up the win despite major adversity. They were without the services of reigning All-Henderson County Area MVP linebacker Justin Hofstetter, who was injured in last week’s season-opening loss to Forth Worth Nolan.
Athens may have lost another of its big-time performers after running back Kendall Sanders went down with some type of leg injury in the fourth quarter. Sanders scored his fourth and fifth touchdowns in just two games and accounted for 132 total yards before leaving with the injury.
The Hornets also lost the turnover battle for the second straight game, losing three of four fumbles to go along with an interception.
And in spite of all of that, they still won.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Essary said. “When things got tough, they didn’t lose their composure. They regrouped and continued to play.”
Who knows where the Hornets would have been without running back Cameron Darty, who turned in the game of his career with 129 yards rushing and a touchdown. Included in Darty’s 23 carries was a pair of fourth-down conversions that kept drives going and a key first-down run on third-and-three in the fourth quarter as the Hornets were trying to run out the clock.
One of those fourth-down conversions came on a drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Tevin Watson to Courtney Whitehead. That fourth-quarter score was clutch in that it gave the Hornets a 21-13 lead less than six minutes after the Panthers (0-2) had cut the lead to 14-13.
Only a missed Spring Hill extra point, which sailed wide left and hit the upright, allowed the Hornets to remain in the lead.
It never should have been that close in the first place.
The Hornets held a 14-0 lead going into halftime, having outgained the Panthers in total yards, 236 to 31. Both first half touchdowns came from Sanders, who scored on a 41-yard run and a brilliant 38-yard pass on which he outjumped the defensive back at the goal line.
The dominant first half also included an Athens fumble at the Panther 2 and an interception in the Spring Hill end zone.
Spring Hill got back into the game thanks to another Hornet turnover when Alex Voelzke caught a 14-yard pass from Dylan Brown with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Later in the fourth, after Whitehead’s score, Brown hit Ryan Lacy on a 76-yard bomb that trimmed the lead to two. The two-point pass failed, however, to leave the lead at 21-19.
Darty scored on a 10-yard run four minutes later to give the Hornets a nine-point lead.
Essary credited a number of players for stepping up in a reserve role. Danny Garza filled in at linebacker for Hofstetter, and B.J. Wilkerson, Caleb Hurst and Zabdiel Mota were also called in to contribute.
“That’s why it’s called a team,” Essary said. “You’ve got to be ready to go when you’re number is called.”
HORNETS 28, PANTHERS 19
AHS SHHS
First Downs 20 7
Rushing Yards 53-237 18-77
Passing Yards 146 121
Total Yards 383 198
Passes Att. 16 24
Passes Comp. 10 11
Interceptions 1 0
Fumbles/Lost 4/3 1/1
Penalties 4/30 3/20
Punts 3/35.3 6/37.5
Score By Quarters
Athens 14 0 0 14 — 28
Spring Hill 0 0 13 6 — 19
Scoring Summary
AHS — Kendall Sanders 41 run (Zabdiel Mota kick)
AHS — Sanders 38 pass from Tevin Watson (Mota kick)
SHHS — Alex Voelzke 14 pass from Dylan Brown (kick good)
SHHS — Brown 1 run (kick fails)
AHS — Courtney Whitehead 19 pass from Watson (Mota kick)
SHHS — Ryan lacy 76 pass from Brown (pass fails)
AHS — Cameron Darty 10 run (Mota kick)
