Hamilton Southeastern toughed out a season-opening win Friday at Reynolds Royals Stadium, holding off Lawrence Central 24-20.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Royals opened the second period with a touchdown on the first play of the quarter. Chris Stein ran seven yards up the middle into the end zone to get Southeastern on the board.
Minutes later, Jake Huston made an interception, and the Royals took advantage. They got into the red zone, and eventually Alex Geroulis kicked a 30-yard field goal. Southeastern later scored on a nice pass from Andrew Hobson to Deandre Rhodes, a 51-yard touchdown reception. Geroulis kicked the extra points after both TDs.
The Bears scored before halftime, but HSE still held a 17-7 lead at the break. Lawrence Central scored a third-quarter touchdown to get within 17-14, and the score stayed there until the 7:12 mark of the fourth period. Hobson threw a 30-yard pass to Nathan Wolf, who found his way into the end zone. Geroulis’ extra point kick made the score 24-14.
The Bears got one more touchdown with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter. Lawrence Central tried an onside kick, but touched the ball before it went the mandatory 10 yards. Southeastern got the ball back and kneeled it out.
“It was nice to get some stops, but to be honest, we probably shouldn’t have been in that situation,” said Royals coach Adam Morris. “I thought that we did a good job in the first half. I thought we had energy, enthusiasm. I just thought it kind of faltered in the second half. That’s why they were able to come back and we were lucky to walk away with a win.”
Hobson finished the game passing 15-of-25 for 233 yards, including the two touchdowns. Rhodes caught six receptions for 144 yards, with Ben Boysen making five catches for 46 yards. Tylin Taylor led the rushing with 61 yards.
Southeastern will travel to North Central next Friday for what will be a tough game with the Panthers.
“I think what people used to think of as North Central is no more,” said Morris. “They are an elite 6A MIC program. If you don’t play well, they’re going to beat you and beat you by a lot. So we’re going to have to have a good week of practice and show up with our best effort next week to win it.”
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 24, LAWRENCE CENTRAL 20
Score by Quarters
Lawrence Central 0 7 7 6 – 20
Southeastern 0 17 0 7 – 24
Team Stats HSE
Rushes-Yards 40-134
Yards Passing 233
Comp-Att-Int-TD 15-25-0-2
Punts-Average 5-33.8
(Lawrence Central team stats were unavailable at press time)
Southeastern Scoring
Second Quarter
11:56 – Chris Stein 7-yard run (Alex
Geroulis kick)
8:27 – Geroulis 30-yard field goal
4:16 – Deandre Rhodes 51-yard pass from Andrew Hobson (Geroulis kick)
Fourth Quarter
7:12 – Nathan Wolf 30-yard pass from Hobson (Geroulis kick)
Southeastern individual stats
Rushing: Tylin Taylor 15-61, Blaine Wertz 11-34, Ben Boysen 6-14, Chris Stein 2-12, Tony Myers 1-7, Nijawon Wilson 5-6.
Passing: Hobson 15-25-233.
Receiving: Rhodes 6-144, Boysen 5-46, Wolf 3-41, Wertz 1-0.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Nathan Wolf runs the ball into the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown. The score helped the Royals hang on for a 24-20 win over Lawrence Central Friday. (Richie Hall)