No. 7 Huskies push past Maconaquah, advance to sectional championship
By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
ARCADIA – There couldn’t have been a better forecast for football in northern Hamilton County. With a berth in the Class 3A Sectional 28 championship game on the line, Maconaquah and Hamilton Heights battled it out at Husky Stadium under a full moon.
The Huskies made the second half adjustments and were able to overcome a speedy passing offense by the Braves en route to a 28-21 sectional semifinal win.
For much of the first quarter, the Braves and Huskies traded punts and were basically trying to feel out what they could execute against the other. Late in the period, Maconaquah had a third down and nine that led to a Michael Cain sack, forcing a punt. Back somewhat deep in its own territory, the Braves’ punt would make it just inside midfield.
Carson Fettig fielded the punt from the Brave 45 and ran back the punt, getting two key blocks along the way to the end zone for the first score of the game. That put Heights up 7-0 with 48.4 seconds left in the first.
“It’s his third punt return touchdown. He’s got a kickoff return for a TD, rushing and receiving touchdowns and a scoop and score. The only facet of the game he has not scored on is an interception. That’s who that kid is,” Hamilton Heights head coach Jon Kirschner said of Fettig.
Maconaquah came back just two minutes later and tied the score 7-7. Braxton Birner connected with DJ Elliott for a 32-yard passing score.
The Braves took advantage of the opportunity in front of them. Marching down the field with pass play after pass play, it was another big play that put them in front. Birner found AJ Kelly for a catch and run for 59-yards that put Maconaquah up 14-7.
“It’s a good system. They execute it well and they’ve got athletes that execute it,” Kirschner said.
The Huskies knew they had to produce on the final series of the half, because they would kick off to the Braves in the third.
Heights would get methodical all while finding opportunities to move down the field.
They had a third down and three at the Braves’ 31 and were able to convert it with an 11-yard run from Eric Balcom. Two plays later on a third and five at the 15, Bodie Derrer found Tyler Champion beautifully on a skinny post for a touchdown, but it would be called back from an offensive holding.
The drive would again be kept alive. Facing a fourth and 15 at the 25, Derrer completed a clutch pass to Cam Fleming for 17 yards down to the Maconaquah eight-yard line.
Then, with a fourth and goal from one yard out, Balcom dove into the end zone with 35.7 seconds left in the second, tying it 14-14 at halftime.
Heights knew adjustments had to be made in order to punch its ticket to the sectional championship at home next Friday.
“The big adjustment we made was from a defensive perspective. We had to be more physical. We talked about getting on those wide receivers and jamming them at the line of scrimmage, with the way we were playing, you had to be physical. We were playing too far off and they were taking what we were giving them,” Kirschner stated.
Birner was 12-of-16 passing in the first half and just 9-for-16 in the second.
“I think that physicality allowed our defensive line to get a little bit of push. I don’t think we had a sack in the first half until right there at the end,” Kirschner continued.
AJ Kelly would score his second touchdown on the night for Maconaquah. This time from 20 yards away on a second and goal from the Husky 20. With 8:36 in the third, the Braves got their final lead at 21-14.
The second half was completely different for both Heights’ defense and the Braves’ offense. The Huskies figured out how they could get to Birner, despite his third passing touchdown.
“Next thing you know, we’re putting pressure on the QB, because that physicality that we were needing was slowing him up,” Kirschner stated on the defensive pressure. “Shoot, 2.4 seconds and that ball is gone fast every time. We knew if we get him to three or close to it, we would have a chance to put him in a bad situation, make him rush and we did,”
The fourth quarter belonged to Hamilton Heights. Late in the third, the Huskies had the ball with a short field, starting at the Maconaquah 33. For the third and final time, the score would be tied. Owen VanHaaren ran in a six-yard score that made it 21-21 with 11:25 still on the clock.
The next Braves drive would be highlighted by Michael Cain’s third sack of the second half. But more importantly, Heights’ defense stood tall and forced Maconaquah to turn it over on downs on a fourth and three at the Husky 38.
The ensuing series for Hamilton Heights proved extremely pivotal.
Derrer found a wide-open Jaylyn Pugh for a 36 yard gain all the way down to the Braves’ 15. VanHaaren then scored with 4:39 left on a seven-yard run for what wound up the final score of 28-21.
The Braves had one more opportunity on offense, but Heights’ defense wanted nothing to do with it. A fourth and two from the Husky 42 and Birner’s pass got batted down by Balcom, turning it over on downs.
VanHaaren would ice the game with a first down run for 18 yards with 1:44 remaining that sealed the game. At that point, Maconaquah had no time outs left.
“We found a way to battle back. Our offense did move the ball well all night. We knew going in that we could run the ball and we did,” continued Kirschner on Heights’ running game.
Maconaquah (7-4) relied heavily on its passing game, until the Huskies adjusted. AJ Kelly led with seven catches and 110 yards to go with his two touchdowns. Leading pass catcher Fuddy Kile caught six,but was limited to 55 yards. DJ Elliott also grabbed four from Birner for 83 yards and a TD.
Husky quarterback Bodie Derrer was 16-of-22 for 245 yards with an interception. Owen VanHaaren led the rushing game with 103 yards on 24 carries while scoring twice. Eric Balcom had 11 runs for 36 yards and a TD. Dre Chandler caught four Derrer passes for 76 yards. Jaylyn Pugh snagged a pair for 56 yards. Tyler Champion had a catch for 43 yards, while Cam Fleming gained 44 yards on a handful.
Hamilton Heights (11-0) advances to the Class 3A Sectional 28 championship next Friday at Husky Stadium and will host top-ranked Bishop Chatard (11-0). The Trojans won their semifinal matchup at Guerin Catholic, 21-10.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 28, MACONAQUAH 21
Score by Quarters
Maconquah 0 14 7 0 – 21
Hamilton Heights 7 7 0 17 – 28
Team stats MAC HH
First Downs 11 18
By Rush 3 6
By Pass 7 11
By Penalty 1 1
Rushes-Yards 20-60 43-156
Passing Yards 284 245
Comp-Att-Int-TD 22-33-0-3 16-22-1-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 9-62 13-130
Punts-Average 3-35.7 3-41.0
Heights Scoring
First Quarter
0:48 – Carson Fettig 46-yard punt return (Teigan Scoles kick)
Second Quarter
0:35 – Eric Balcom 1-yard run (Scoles kick)
Fourth Quarter
11:25 – Owen VanHaaren 6-yard run (Scoles kick)
4:39 – VanHaaren 7-yard run (Scoles kick)
Heights individual stats
Rushing: VanHaaren 24-103, Balcom 11-36, Tyler Champion 3-11, Bodie Derrer 5-6.
Passing: Derrer 16-22-245.
Receiving: Cam Fleming 5-44, Dre Chandler 4-76, Jaylyn Pugh 2-56, VanHaaren 2-16, Connor Baumann 2-10, Champion 1-43.