The REPORTER
After a rough start on Friday, Hamilton Heights rolled to its 10th straight win of the season.
The Huskies, ranked No. 5 in the Class 3A Associated Press poll and No. 7 in the IFCA poll, beat host Oak Hill 42-17 to win a first-round Sectional 28 game. The Golden Eagles had Heights down 10-0 in the second quarter, but the Huskies outscored them 42-7 over the remaining 28 minutes of the game.
“It was a tale of two halves,” said Heights coach Jon Kirschner. “Oak Hill’s a good football team, they were executing at a high level.”
Heights broke through with 3:32 left in the second quarter, when Cam Fleming caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Bodie Derrer. It was Fleming’s first touchdown of the year. That got the Huskies within 10-7 at halftime; Teigan Scoles followed up the touchdown with the first of his six extra-point kicks.
Heights would soon be in the lead once the second half began. Jaylyn Pugh made sure of that, as he caught a 24-yard TD pass from Derrer to get the Huskies in front 14-10. Minutes later, Pugh blocked a punt and then recovered it, then ran four yards into the end zone. Just like that, Heights led 21-7.
“We went out and played the brand of Husky football that we’ve been playing all year,” said Kirschner.
Oak Hill scored on a short run to get within 21-14, and that would be the third-quarter score. But the Huskies cruised through the fourth quarter. Tyler Champion grabbed a 16-yard TD throw from Derrer just 25 seconds into the period. Then at the midway point of the quarter, an Ethan Millsaps interception led to Fleming taking a 25-yard Derrer pass into the end zone. Heights got the ball back immediately when Pugh made an interception, and Owen VanHaaren ran in from two yards to score.
Derrer had a great game, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 190 yards. Champion had five catches for 90 yards, while Pugh made four totaling 79 yards. Eric Balcom led the rushing with 88 yards. Heights’ defense also played strong, with Simon Knott making an interception during the second quarter.
“All three facets of the game were firing on all cylinders,” said Kirschner.
The Huskies are 10-0 for the season, the first time they’ve reached the 10-win mark since 2012. Heights will host Maconaquah next Friday in the Sectional 28 semifinals.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 42, OAK HILL 17
Score by Quarters
Hamilton Heights 0 7 14 21 – 42
Oak Hill 7 3 7 0 – 17
Team stats HH OH
First Downs 17 14
By Rush 12 10
By Pass 4 4
By Penalty 1 0
Rushes-Yards 40-163 38-210
Passing Yards 190 112
Comp-Att-Int-TD 12-17-0-0 9-21-3-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 8-55 4-30
Punts-Average 1-48.0 1-14.0
Heights Scoring
Second Quarter
3:32 – Cam Fleming 16-yard pass from Bodie Derrer (Teigan Scoles kick)
Third Quarter
9:02 – Jaylyn Pugh 24-yard pass from Derrer (Scoles kick)
7:12 – Pugh 4-yard blocked punt return (Scoles kick)
Fourth Quarter
11:35 – Tyler Champion 16-yard pass from Derrer (Scoles kick)
5:23 – Fleming 25-yard pass from Derrer (Scoles kick)
4:40 – Owen VanHaaren 2-yard run (Scoles kick)
Heights individual stats
Rushing: Balcom 15-88, VanHaaren 13-55, Derrer 10-23, Carson Fettig 2-minus 3.
Passing: Derrer 12-17-190.
Receiving: Champion 5-60, Pugh 4-79, Fleming 3-51.