Hanover-Horton clinches second postseason berth in school history

Hanover-Horton clinches second postseason berth in school history
Saturday, October 13, 2007
By Mike Pryson
mpryson@citpat.com -- 768-4963


Hanover-Horton High School junior Jake Wood does not remember much about the Comets' last run to the football playoffs in 2004.

Wood was there, all right, but as an eighthgrader, he was more interested in goofing off behind the bleachers or hanging out with friends on the hills surrounding the football field at Hanover-Horton than watching the games.

He's looking forward to being a big part of the postseason festivities this time around.

Wood rushed for 160 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to help the Comets beat Napoleon 33-7 on Friday night at Hanover-Horton. The victory clinched a playoff berth for Hanover-Horton, sending the Comets into the postseason for the second time in school history.

``There's no way to explain the feeling,'' Wood said.

It certainly beat the feeling that Wood had when he was rooting on the Comets in 2004.

``I was always the one playing football on the sidelines,'' Wood said. ``I didn't watch the games very much. I was really mad at myself, because I didn't even go to the playoff game against Addison.''

Hanover-Horton improved to 6-2 overall and finished its Cascades Conference season at 5-2. The Comets finished one game behind Addison in their bid for the school's first conference football title.

Napoleon gave Hanover-Horton a game for two quarters. After Hanover-Horton jumped on top 6-0 on a 13-yard run by Nick Schaefer, the Pirates came back to take a 7-6 lead on a 35-yard touchdown run by Jim Harrington and extra-point kick by James McEnany with 5:01 to play in the opening quarter.

Hanover-Horton took advantage of a Napoleon fumble to take the lead for good less than 3 minutes later. Brad Isaacson jumped on a fumble at the Hanover-Horton 42, and three plays later, quarterback Alex Harris hit Wood on a screen pass that went for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Hanover-Horton, despite the good fortune, led just 12-7 at the half.

The Comets then blew the game open with touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half.

Erick Miller scored on a 43-yard pass play, while Ken Warren and Wood added 3-yard touchdown runs. The three touchdown drives consumed all of 14 plays and left Hanover-Horton with a 33-7 lead.

``I kind of chewed on the kids a little for some stuff that went on before the game,'' Hanover-Horton coach Tom Gumper said. ``It was homecoming, and there were a lot of distractions.

``But the kids responded well. They did a good job as far as coming out here and being ready to play.''

Hanover-Horton outgained Napoleon on the ground, 258-115. Napoleon finished eighth in the Cascades Conference.

``We had a lot higher expectations for this season,'' Napoleon coach Don Baxter said. ``We just fell apart.''




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Bears host Lions

Bears host Lions

Alamogordo Daily News
By Gidal Kaiser, Sports Editor
10/13/2007

The words have been spoken by many a coach in Class 1A and 2A: "Santa Rosa. Oh, my gosh."

The biggest problems coaches say when it comes to facing Santa Rosa are:

1. The Lions run an old-school, single-wing, direct snap offense that was last used in mainstream football back in the 1940s.

2. Santa Rosa's player are always "huge monsters" and "tougher than an overcooked steak."

"What can you say? They're one of those big and physical teams that play hard," Cloudcroft head coach Matt Shaw said. "They'll kick you when you're down and stomp you till you're dead. They play that way."

The Lions carry with them a certain intimidation factor despite not having won a state title since 1998. It's that intimidation factor which Shaw said most coaches and players buy into.

Shaw has told his Bears (4-2) they must not think about it before today's game with the Lions (5-1) in Cloudcroft.

"We stressed, 'Do not walk out on the field afraid,'" Shaw said. "I don't want any fear in any of them. It's an intimidation thing, and we can't play them intimidated. They're hard enough to beat without the intimidation. We can't give them anything. Not an inch."

Santa Rosa fell to Dexter last week, 29-14, after giving up 15 points in the fourth quarter. Jesus Roybal ran back the game's opening kickoff 95 yards and also threw a touchdown pass to Joaquin Bachica, accounting for the Lions' points. But Frank Ortiz's single-wing offense generally garners a total of five passes a season, instead using trickery and reverses in it's direct-snap running game.

Plus, Shaw noted, his offense has been on-again, off-again for the past month. With the Lions today, and with district play looming, the offensive woes have to be corrected.

"There's just a lot going on right now," he said. "If we play the game of our life, we can beat them."

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Alamogordo Daily News

A MediaNews Group Newspaper

Alamogordo, New Mexico

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Colton Football Week 6 Video Highlights

Colton Football Week 6 Highlights vs Cajon









Thanks to Adam W. from http://www.directsnapfootball.com/ for the video link.

Odessa silences Oak Grove party

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Odessa silences Oak Grove party
Bulldogs bulldoze ninth-ranked Panthers with big second half

By Jason Tarwater Jason.tarwater@examiner.net
The Examiner

When Jacob Brandt's 56-yard touchdown run tied the game just before halftime, Oak Grove thought it had all the momentum it needed.

Archrival Odessa had different plans.

The host Bulldogs controlled the second half, scoring 18 unanswered points without attempting a single pass, winning the Missouri River Valley Conference matchup, 32-14.

"I thought we had the momentum after that big play," said Oak Grove senior defensive back/receiver Adam Hightower, who picked off a pass. "I thought it would carry over."

Instead, Conrad Hooper and the Odessa offense was unstoppable in the second half.

Hooper rushed 37 times for 183 yards - with 100 of those yards coming in the second half.

The Bulldogs (5-2, 5-2 MRVC) had two second-half scoring drives of 12 plays. The last touchdown came after Brien Salley was intercepted and the ball was returned inside the 10.

"We didn't fulfill our obligations," said Panthers defensive Adam Polen, who also caught a 16-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. "We had jobs to do. We needed to adapt, but it didn't work out for us."

Oak Grove (6-1, 6-1 MRVC) never led, as Odessa took the opening drive of the game 56 yards on 13 plays - all on the ground - capped by a 9-yard run by Austin Harvey.

Oak Grove answered in the second quarter, as Salley hit Polen for a 16-yard score. Shawn Boss' extra-point attempt was blocked, but still had enough to get over the crossbar.

Odessa scored late in the second quarter and seemed to take control of the game, thanks to another 13-play drive, this one covering 66 yards and capped by a Harvey 3-yard run.

But less than a minute later, Oak Grove answered, as Brandt took the ball on a draw play and dashed 56 yards to the end zone.

When he got the ball, Brandt said all he saw was green grass.

"The line did their part," Brandt said. "I had nothing to do with it but just running."

But after seemingly made an adjustment to the Odessa single-wing attack - which features a lot of fake handoffs, direct snaps to running backs and misdirection - the Panthers had trouble with Hooper, who mostly ran up the middle. For the season Hooper now has nearly 1,200 yards in seven games.

"We're a second-half team," Hooper said. "Every team we've played we've come out and played hard in the second half. I don't know what it is.

"This was my best win in high school. It's an awesome feeling. Everyone feels great."

Polen said the loss - the first of the year for the ninth-ranked Panthers - may have done a little bit of good for his team.

"This was an eye-opener," he said. "We may have come in lackadaisical, thinking we were 6-0. Now we need to get back and work harder than ever before."

Hightower also wasn't taking the loss lightly. In fact, he said this loss is going to drive the Panthers that much more to win a district championship, as the Panthers would potentially see Odessa in the first round of the playoffs if both win out.

"We're going to fight our (rear ends) off so we can see those guys in week 11," he said.

Oak Grove starts district play Thursday night at Southeast. Odessa plays Chillicothe next week, with the winner becoming the favorite to win the district.

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