Hornets rally comes up just short
CHELSEA – Homewood High School jumped out to a 28-0 lead and withstood a furious fourth quarter rally from Chelsea en route to a 37-35 win in a key region contest Friday night.
The Hornets (0-4, 0-2 in Class 6A, Region 5) capitalized on a couple of special teams miscues from the visitors in the second half that sparked a 28-point final frame for the hosts. Senior Cooper Griffin (45-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown) and Anderson Brooks (fumble recovery for a touchdown) provided the ammunition for a spectacular second half from Chelsea junior quarterback Hayden Garrison.
The signal caller connected on touchdown passes of 80 yards (M.J. Conrad) and 88 yards (Matt Gray) in the final period and tallied 285 passing yards after amassing 20 yards in the first half. A last gasp effort from Harrison to Griffin just across midfield came up short in the final few seconds as the clock ran out.
“I am really proud of our guys coming off of our loss last week. You know we played almost a perfect first half – we had 45 offensive snaps and never punted. But the two bad snaps in the second half hurt us and put them back in the game,” Homewood coach Ben Berguson said.
The Patriots (3-1, 1-0) offense featured an array of players that accounted for a large production of the output (443 total yards), including junior quarterback Woods Ray (21-of-26, 314 yards, two touchdowns). Ray accounted for all four first half Patriots scores (two passing, two rushing).
“He did an unbelievable job, he is a great player,” Berguson said.
Aron Marsch (nine receptions, 99 yards, a touchdown), Jackson Parris (seven receptions, 147 yards) and J.C. Daniel (two catches, 46 yards, a touchdown) were the benefactors of Ray’s prolific night.
“They were taking everything deep away (in the first half) so we were just hitting the check down routes,” Ray said.
The Hornets string of three consecutive possessions with a touchdown in the final frame was capped by an 8-yard scoring run out of the Wildcat formation from running back Sloan DeWeese; however, the two-point try failed and Homewood held on for the victory.
Homewood continues region play next week at home against Woodlawn. Chelsea has an open week.