Hamilton Heights was already playing well in the first half of its Friday night game at Northwestern, leading 27-14.
But the Huskies found another gear in the second half, and went into overdrive, dominating the half and eventually taking care of the Tigers 55-20. It was the first Hoosier Conference East Division game of the season for Heights.
The Huskies got the lone score of the first quarter, when Owen VanHaaren made a short run for a touchdown. Trey Ehman also scored on a short run to begin the second period, after which Northwestern got on the board with a 39-yard rushing touchdown.
Heights scored back-to-back touchdowns within a minute of each other during the middle of the quarter. Jaylyn Pugh brought in a 61-yard pass play touchdown from Bodie Derrer, then Ehman punched the ball in from the one-yard line seconds later.
That helped carry the Huskies through to a 27-14 lead at the half.
“We played solid football in the first half,” said Kirschner. “We had to clean up some fundamentals at halftime. There were several fundamental things that we needed to address and improved on.”
So, during the break, Heights coach Jon Kirschner gave his team a challenge.
“We challenged them to execute with greater effort and execute with better fundamentals,” said Kirschner.
The Huskies rose to the challenge. They blasted out of the gate in the third quarter on both offense and defense – “it was punt, punt, punt, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown,” said Kirschner.
Derrer threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Champion early in the third quarter, then later scored himself on a two-yard run. In the fourth quarter, Derrer made a third touchdown throw, that one a 15-yarder to Cooper Vondersaar. Midway through, Pugh turned an interception at the Heights five-yard line into a 95-yard touchdown.
“We came out roaring like a freight train in the third quarter,” said Kirschner. “Our effort was through the roof. We were playing high-level football, and we were much more fundamentally sound.”
Derrer had an outstanding game, completing 17 of 19 pass attempts for 275 yards. Teigan Scoles made seven extra-point kicks.
Heights is 3-1 and hosts Western next Friday in its Homecoming game.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 55, NORTHWESTERN 20
Score by Quarters
Heights 7 20 14 14 – 55
Northwestern 0 14 0 6 – 20
Team Stats HH NW
First Downs 17 13
By Rush 9 6
By Pass 8 5
By Penalty 0 2
Rushes-Yards 29-128 35-130
Yards Passing 275 150
Comp-Att-Int-TD 17-19-1-3 13-21-1-1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 6-55 5-50
Punts-Average 0-0.0 5-35.6
Heights Scoring
First Quarter
9:22 – Owen VanHaaren 5-yard run (Teigan Scoles kick)
Second Quarter
11:56 – Trey Ehman 3-yard run (kick failed)
5:17 – Jaylyn Pugh 61-yard pass from Bodie Derrer (Scoles kick)
4:33 – Trey Ehman 1-yard run (Scoles kick)
Third Quarter
9:24 – Champion 25-yard pass from Derrer (Scoles kick)
Fourth Quarter
8:37 – Cooper Vondersaar 15-yard pass from Derrer (Scoles kick)
5:45 – Pugh 95-yard interception return (Scoles kick)
Heights individual stats
Rushing: Eric Balcom 5-51, Ehman 15-44, VanHaaren 4-20, Derrer 5-13.
Passing: Derrer 17-19-275.
Receiving: Vondersaar 5-72, Champion 4-72, Kaleb Murray 3-41, Pugh 1-61, Keaton Weaver 1-18, Ehman 1-7, VanHaaren 1-6, Balcom 1-minus 2.