Justice prevails for Hurley
Hurley (32) vs. Castlewood (6)
Written: Sep 19, 2015
BY TIM HAYES
for the Daily Telegraph
CASTLEWOOD, Va. — Brady Justice got things going for the Hurley Rebels on Friday night, while Brett Justice capped things in the scoring department with a long touchdown run to cement the win.
In between, head coach Greg Tester's tough guys served up some tough justice.
Hurley's D inflicted some serious damage in limiting Castlewood to 146 yards of total offense and a season-low six points in taking a 32-6 non-district victory at B.C. White Stadium.
Guys like Shane Hardin, Tyler Coleman, Logan Justus and Steven Christian on the defensive line particularly made life miserable for the Blue Devils.
"The defense played great, man," Tester said. "For the most part we contained them well and the defense gave our offense some opportunities."
The Rebels (3-1) snatched the momentum away from Castlewood early as Brady Justice returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown.
"We haven't been playing the best here lately and we've been starting slow," Justice said. "We just wanted to come out and set the tone."
Justice finished with 134 yards on 18 carries and reached the end zone on three occasions. The 6-foot, 185-pound junior has a nice blend of speed and power.
"We weren't expecting them to kick to him and I'm glad they did," Tester said. "We've got a couple of running backs that can it take it to the house at any time."
The game was still in doubt late in the first half before Hurley quarterback Zach Lester dealt a devastating blow to Castlewood's chances.
With less than a second left on the clock and coming out of a timeout, Lester scored on an option keeper from 12 yards out on the final play of the second quarter as the Rebels went into halftime with a 14-point lead.
"That was the turning point of the game I felt like," said Castlewood coach Darrell Taylor.
Lester got a passing grade on the play as he swept left and instead of pitching it to Justice, kept it himself and weaved his way past several defenders.
"That was all my quarterback," Tester said. "He had come to me and had seen the play might work and he did all the work on it. The credit goes to him on that."
Hurley's defense locked down in the second half, while the miscues mounted for Castlewood.
The Blue Devils (1-3) lost three fumbles, were penalized 11 times and were done in by special-team gaffes.
"We got in our own way as the saying goes," Taylor said. "We've got to be able to start executing better and cut out the mistakes and turnovers which has been a nemesis that has killed us. ... We have to start getting better mentally and stay focused for four quarters."
Hurley rebounded from a 36-12 shellacking at the hands of Shelby Valley (Kentucky) a week before. Tester thanks his team's potential is high.
"We're still a little banged up and have some backs that are still limping around. Once we get everybody healthy we'll get back to clicking on all cylinders and our expectations are high," Tester said. "We still have to get back to work and better than what we were doing right now."
Hurley was featured in USA Today last month due to the school's use of the Confederate battle flag, which is adorned throughout the school and on the side of the Rebels' helmets.
Now, they hope to make some headlines for the way they perform on Friday nights.
"There has been a lot of hype about us and stuff and we just want to show the town and community what we really have to bring to the table," Brady Justice said.
Hurley...............14 6 0 12 — 32
Castlewood.........0 6 0 0 — 6
Scoring Summary
H - Brady Justice 87 kickoff return (run failed)
H - Brady Justice 22 run (Tester pass from Lester)
C - C. Blevins 51 pass from Wood (kick failed)
H - Lester 12 run (run failed)
H - Brady Justice 4 run (pass failed)
H - Brett Justice 59 run (run failed)
Team Stats
First Downs: H 17, C 9; Rushes-Yards: H 50-280, C 25-86; Passing Yards: H 38, C 60; Comp.-Att.-Int.: H 2-7-0, C 4-10-1; Fumbles-Lost: H 0-0, C 3-3; Penalties-Yards: H 10-97, C 11-83.
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