The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Coach Will Bavery
The football Heat opened the 2006 season with a tough loss on the road at Pittsfield. The Heat played very well after the 120 mile bus ride, and gave the larger class Saukees a real battle before falling 30 to 8.
The first quarter was scoreless with the Heat dominating both on offense and defense. The Heat defense started the game with a three and out. That is something we want to see more of this year.
The offense drove the ball steadily down the field but stalled out around the twenty. The Saukees broke the scoring ice in the second quarter on a 40 yard run. That would be their longest play of the game.
The two point conversion made it 8-0 Pittsfield. The Saukees would score again in the second quarter on a 36 yard pass, and would again pick up the two point conversion to take at 16-0 lead to halftime.
The Saukees would score in the third quarter to make the score 24 to 0.
After the Saukee score, the Heat came back on an 11 yard run by Andy Chockley, and a conversion two pointer from Chockley to Dalton Chandler made the score 24-8.
Following a penalty on the kickoff the major controversy of the game took place. The Heat tried an onside kick with Dalton Chandler and recovered the kick after it bounced off the Pittsfield player.
Awe, momentum has swung our way and we'll be back to the end zone, but wait we have traveled 120 miles to Pittsfield. The referee has called some kind of penalty on the kick and awarded the ball to the Saukees where we had recovered it.
The Heat defense did get the ball back but the erroneous call ended the Heat's chance for a comeback. Pittsfield added a touchdown late in the game with their big fullback to make the final score 30-8.
I was really proud of the way our guys hung on and took the game to Pittsfield. We played them toe to toe We took their hits and gave them back. It was a real football game.
About four missed plays on our part coupled with three or four official's calls made the difference in the game. We played the game with no give aways and picked up one Saukee fumble.
The game stats were pretty even with the Heat moving for 244 yards of total offense and the Saukees with 209. Penalties at strategic times played a large part in the game's outcome.
Our team was very appreciative of the large following that we had at Pittsfield. I'm sure it was part of the incentive for the Heat to keep playing real hard under some adverse conditions.
This week the Heat will be at home against another larger class school Camp Point Central-Augusta Southeastern. We will be trying to keep up the good play that we showed at Pittsfield and eliminate the few mistakes we made. If we can do this, I think the hometown fans are going to like what they see.
Score by quarters
WC 0 0 0 8 Total 8
PHS 0 16 8 8 Total 30
Rushing WCHS 217 PHS 173
Passing WHCS 29 PHS 36
Total Offense WCHS 246 PHS 209
First Downs WCHS 12 PHS 17
Individual Rushing
Chockley 22 for 105, Smith 7 for 41, Lane 6 for 13, Livermore 10 for 21, Blender 8 for 29, Bundy 2 for 8