by Jeff Clark, Staff Writer
LYMAN (GG) — How do you bounce back from a stinging loss to an excellent D’Iberville team? If you’re the West Harrison Hurricanes (6-1, 2-1), you make a statement in a Thursday night victory on the road Oct. 9 at Harrison Central. The Hurricanes beat Harrison Central (1-5, 0-2) in an impressive 18-0 shutout win.
“We are blessed with a great staff and a great conditioning coach and training staff,” Head Coach Quincy Patrick said. “They had a plan all season long for how we would practice with such a short turnaround between games. Our players responded well to the program implemented for the short week and came in focused.”
Patrick stuck with his “ground and pound” run-heavy play-calling, as the Hurricanes put up a staggering 345 yards rushing, producing three touchdowns along the way. But they managed to do it without the aid of standout running back Jordan Stapleton. With Stapleton out, Patrick had to look to his talented running back room to get the job done.
West Harrison’s defense displayed dominance on Thursday. This one was won in the trenches and the lion’s share of the credit has to go to Sean Fairley and Julian. Fairley rushed for 249 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.6 yards per carry while Chong rushed for 188 yards while picking up 11.1 yards per carry. Those three rushing touchdowns gave Fairley a new career-high.
West Harrison’s run defense was locked in: Harrison Central could only muster 1.7 yards per carry. The team can thank Jazear Carter for the heroic effort on defense with 12 tackles. Carter was especially locked on to Harrison Central’s QB and sacked him twice. Carter has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 16 times he’s played.
“We had a short week, and we were short on manpower with some guys being out,” Patrick said. “But our senior captain Sean Fairley stepped on offense along with guys like Jacob Ladner, Cameron Bradford, Travis Pryor, and the rest of the offensive line.”
Fairley was the leading rusher for the Hurricanes, finishing with 249 yards on 29 carries and scoring all 18 points in the game. Julian Chong had 188 yards on 11 carries after a pep talk from Patrick.
“You are one of the best running backs on the Gulf Coast, and I need you to believe that,” Patrick could be heard telling Chong on the sideline after an explosive play.
Harrison Central kept the Hurricanes out of the endzone through the first quarter. Fairley found the endzone in the second quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run. The Hurricanes did not make any point-after kick attempts in the victory over Harrison Central.
Although the “ground and pound” attack has been successful for West Harrison, quarterback Kaylon Kostic went 1-2, with his only completed pass being an explosive throw to Dean Hunter.
After 7 games, the Hurricanes have allowed only 108 points while outscoring their opponents with 219. Stapleton leads the Hurricanes offensively with 1150 all purpose yards and 17 touchdowns and Carter tops the defense finishing with 70 tackles and 8 sacks after 7 games.
The Hurricanes will face a huge task Friday night when Gulfport (4-2) (2-0) travels to West Harrison. The region matchup starts at 7 p.m.
(Photos by Aimee Cronan/The Gazebo Gazette via Associated Press)
