By CRAIG ADKINS
ARCADIA – The Hamilton Heights Huskies dug a hole that made it extremely hard to try to dig themselves out of in Friday’s game against North Montgomery, as they dropped their first home opener, 28-14.
The first two offensive possessions resulted in turning the ball over on downs in Charger territory. The second series came to a halt when sophomore quarterback Gus Griffey’s pass to a wide open Camron Knott fell incomplete off his fingertips in the end zone.
“You can’t drop two touchdown passes on two straight drives and expect a team, who does have some pretty big physicality, and expect them not to rally from it,” said Hamilton Heights head coach Jon Kirschner on how his Huskies played to open Friday’s first two series.
As a result of North’s first takeover, it marched 64 yards in 12 plays and capped it off with nine-yard touchdown pass from Jaron Bradford to Keifer Carmean that gave the Chargers the first score of the night and an early 6-0 lead after the kick failed.
North’s second possession was an 18-play drive that accounted for 72 yards, putting fullback Zak Searle into the end zone from two yards out. Bradford’s two-point run made it 14-0.
“I was very pleased with our offense. I want to say we had the ball five times and we scored four. We had six and scored four,” stated North Montgomery head coach Josh Thompson on his team’s offensive performance on the road.
“That’s what we need out of our team, is to control the football, move the ball. I’m very pleased with the bounce back we had after last week,” continued Thompson, praising his team’s overall effort.
The Huskies were finally able to sustain an offensive drive and put some points on the board toward the latter stages of the second quarter.
Sophomore tailback Nate Hulen walked into the end zone, untouched, from five-yards away, cutting the Chargers’ lead in half at 14-7.
North ate up some more clock and found a way to tack on another score before halftime.
On a third down and 10 at the Hamilton Heights 40, Bradford found senior tailback Zach Walden all alone on a post route for a 40-yard touchdown grab. Carmean caught Bradford’s two-point pass, extending the lead now to 22-7.
Already up by two scores, the Chargers figured out how they could put this game completely in their hands and wear down the host Huskies. North Montgomery executed a drive of 15 plays that would grind 8:16 off of the third period clock. Carmean would catch his second touchdown on the night for an eight-yard score make it 28-7 with 3:41 left in the third.
“They executed their side of the ball on offense and did some good things on defense. We made too many mistakes. You just can’t do it and it became a mental game,” Kirschner said on his team’s play that had them playing from behind all night.
The Huskies showed their best offensive series that put up their second score of the game. On the second play of a drive that began at their own 13, Griffey lofted a pass down the home sideline and right into the hands of Hulen. The speedy sophomore got past one defensive back, but couldn’t outrun another, picking up 67 yards on the long pass play.
Griffey seems to be getting more comfortable with his receivers each game.
Heights had a second down and 29 at the Charger 38 and Griffey threaded a beautiful pass to Knott on an inside slant and the 6’2 senior wideout sprinted 38-yards for the TD. That cut the deficit in half at 28-14 with Michael Lecher’s point after kick, but North Montgomery would milk the clock the rest of the way to seal the win for the visitors.
“We had seven plays on offense in the second half. Offensively, you’re not going to get anything going, so that was a tough one. This is one I thought we would get for sure,” Kirschner said on Hamilton Heights’ lack of offensive plays in the second half.
North Montgomery (1-1) starts Sagamore Conference play next week when it hosts Southmont (1-1), who lost to North Putnam on Friday, 28-26.
The Chargers were led on the ground by Walden’s 21 carries for 80 yards. Jaron Bradford’s 14-of-21 passing night led to 172 yards and three touchdowns, two of those to Carmean.
Hamilton Heights (0-2) will get its Hoosier Conference slate started when it hits the road to face 3A second-ranked West Lafayette (2-0). The Red Devils had no problem with McCutcheon on Friday, 46-16.
The Huskies’ lone offensive spotlight belonged to a pair of receivers. Knott caught four passes for 78 yards and a score and Hulen tallied two receptions for 75 yards while also carrying the ball twice for 11 yards and a TD. Griffey is coming into his own as a young QB, as he threw for 181 yards and a touchdown on 9-for-18 passing.
NORTH MONTGOMERY 28,
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 14
Score by Quarters
North Montgomery 6 16 6 0 – 28
Heights 0 7 0 7 – 14
Team Stats NM HH
First Downs 20 7
By Rush 12 0
By Pass 6 5
By Penalty 2 2
Rushes-Yards 51-189 14-32
Yards Passing 156 172
Comp-Att-Int-TD 13-20-0-3 11-19-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-30 4-53
Punts-Average 0-0.0 0-0.0
Heights Scoring
Second Quarter
1:53 – Nate Hulen 6-yard run (Michael
Lecher kick)
Fourth Quarter
7:07 – Camron Knott 38-yard pass from Guy Griffey (Lecher kick)
Heights individual stats
Rushing: Knott 2-18, Hulen 2-12, Blake Webel 4-9, Collin Denham 4-7, Griffey 2-minus 14.
Passing: Griffey 11-19-172.
Receiving: Knott 4-74, Hulen 2-75, Isaac Tuma 2-10, Deshawn King 2-7, Brent Pennington 1-6.
Hamilton Heights senior Camron Knott gains yardage before the North Montgomery defense can stop him during the Huskies-Chargers game Friday night at the Heights stadium. (Bret Richardson)