By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – After Hamilton Heights scored a 34-0 Hoosier Conference East Division victory over Lewis Cass Friday night, the seniors of the Huskies team got together for a photo in the center of the field.
The players posed and smiled as orange and white smoke filled in behind them. A few yards away, Heights coach Jon Kirschner was talking about that senior class, the first class the four-year coach has seen all the way through high school.
“This is my first senior class, so to see them get a decisive victory on a Senior Night is bittersweet,” said Kirschner. “I’m going to miss this group. This group has been through ups and downs and COVID and quarantines. You name it, this group has been with me through all of it. Them being my first group, every one of them, they’ve been in my weight class for four years.”
The Huskies played like it was a Senior Night game. They were pumped up and aggressive, moving the ball well both on the ground and through the air while also being relentless on defense.
The first quarter finished in a scoreless tie, but Heights was knocking on the door of its first score. Sure enough, just 42 seconds into the second period, the Huskies broke through as Cooper Vondersaar grabbed an eight-yard pass from Guy Griffey for a touchdown.
That opened the floodgates, as Heights poured in 28 points during the second quarter. Gavin Bramel made an interception with 9:24 left in the period, and that turned into a score about a minute later as Trey Ehman dashed in from seven yards.
With under two minutes to go, Tyler Champion took a 19-yard Griffey pass into the end zone for the Huskies’ third touchdown. Finally, Heights scored a fourth touchdown on the final play of the half. Griffey lobbed up a throw from the 24-yard line into the end zone, where Bramel emerged from a group of players to catch the ball.
Jonathan Glenn made all four of his extra-point attempts during the quarter, and that gave the Huskies a 28-0 halftime lead.
“We played a really good game,” said Kirschner. “We played some very disciplined football in the first half. That was really refershing to see. It was a really focused practice week and it showed up tonight on the football field. Really, all four quarters. Anytime there was a mistake, we rallied on the other side of the ball and got stuff done.”
Heights added one more touchdown in the fourth quarter, as Nate Hulen pushed into the end zone from the one-yard line.
Griffey had a solid game, making 17 of his 30 pass attempts for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Vondersaar finished the game with five catches and Isaac Tuma had four. Ehman led the rushing with 90 yards. The defense was outstanding as well, in fact, this was the first time the Huskies shut out an opponent since a 36-0 win over Northwestern on Sept. 13, 2019.
Heights finished East Division play with a 2-2 record, finishing third in the division. The Huskies will travel to Rensselaer Central next Friday to play the divisional playoff game; the Bombers finished third in the West Division, also with a 2-2 record. The Huskies are 5-3 overall.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 34, LEWIS CASS 0
Score by Quarters
Lewis Cass 0 0 0 0 – 0
Heights 0 28 0 6 – 34
Team Stats LC HH
First Downs 12 18
By Rush 6 7
By Pass 5 10
By Penalty 1 1
Rushes-Yards 37-54 29-134
Yards Passing 127 209
Comp-Att-Int-TD 12-25-2-0 17-30-1-3
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 1-15 3-30
Punts-Average 2-24.5 0-0.0
Heights Scoring
Second Quarter
11:18 – Cooper Vondersaar 8-yard pass from Guy Griffey (Jonathan Glenn kick)
8:19 – Trey Ehman 7-yard run (Glenn kick)
1:47 – Tyler Champion 19-yard pass from Griffey (Glenn kick)
0:00 – Gavin Bramel 24-yard pass from Griffey (Glenn kick)
Fourth Quarter
8:45 – Nate Hulen 1-yard run (kick blocked)
Heights individual stats
Rushing: Ehman 12-90, Griffey 7-19, Chance Yeager 5-19, Hulen 2-4, Jake Jackson 2-3, Joey Sigler 1-minus 1.
Passing: Griffey 17-30-210.
Receiving: Vondersaar 5-53, Isaac Tuma 4-50, Harrison Hochstedler 3-21, Jaylyn Pugh 2-36, Bramel 2-30, Champion 1-19.