by Hunter Dawkins, Publisher/AP Member – editor@thegazebogazette.com
There’s a lot that can be said about West Harrison High School and their last 13 years as a football program with only 24 wins, but Friday, September 9, the Hurricanes rallied beating St. Helena College & Career Academy Hawks 47-46. With a 3-0 record, West Harrison’s 2022 football team sets the mark for most wins to start the season ever in the program’s brief history.
“First all Glory to God who is the head of my life and I’m proud of the guys anytime you load high school athletes on a bus and travel two plus hours into a great atmosphere, you never know how they will respond,” stated West Harrison’s Head Football Coach Quincy Patrick. In five years, this is the most wins Patrick has ever had. “Great leadership showed by our leaders. We challenged our guys at halftime and they came out and answered the bell.”
Even though the ‘Canes had only given up a touchdown for the year in their previous games, West Harrison fell behind early 6-0 as the Hawks punched in a touchdown run with 10:46 left in the first quarter.
The Hurricanes countered with a 20-yard touchdown run. After converting the extra point, West Harrison took an early 7-6 lead with 7:10 left.
Trading jabs back and forth, Quarterback Brady Martin dove in for a 6 yard touchdown to tie the score at 14 following the Hawks score with 9:55 left in the half.
St. Helena found the scoreboard with one more drive before the half, building the lead to 22-14 after a two point conversion.
Coming out of the gates at the half, the ‘Canes were on a mission to outscore their opponent and control the time of possession. Scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and allowing two partially did that, leaving the game 34-28 at the end of the quarter.
Being down 40-28 with seven minutes left in the game, West Harrison dug deep with reliable Hurricane Running Back Jeremy Jones jetting around the corner for a 15-yard score. With the extra point conversion failing, St. Helena still contained a 40-34 lead, but the Hurricanes had a new life at 6:14 left in the game.
Both offenses kept putting points on the board for the last five minutes, but fortunately for the ‘Canes they had two compared to the Hawks one.
With 14 seconds left on the clock, the ‘Canes chipped in on a two yard run and the 47-46 score sealed the deal for West Harrison.
Offensively, West Harrison finished with 503 yards of total offense, mainly on the ground. 437 of the yards were rushing.
the ‘Canes were led by Jones, who rushed for 174 on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Teammate Trey Harris eclipsed the 100 yard mark on the ground, one touchdown and caught a pass for 27 yards.
West Harrison had plenty more people on the ground attack; including Javon McCalebb, Jordan Stapleton, and Brady Martin combining for nearly 160 yards on 20 carries. Stapleton and Martin each had a touchdown.
The ‘Canes will not play next week, but will play on the road for their first district opponent; East Central, on September 23, 2022 at 7:30pm.
