Field position favors Honaker against Rebels
Hurley (22) vs. Honaker (49)
Written: Oct 17, 2015
By LLOYD COMBS
for the Daily Telegraph
HONAKER, Va. — It was a game of field position.
It took a while but Honaker finally took advantage of it.
Hartley Hilton threw three touchdown passes and Honaker gradually pulled away to a 49-22 win over Hurley on a chilly Friday night at Emats Stadium.
Hilton's 177 yards passing offset 270 rushing yards by Brady Justice who kept the Rebels in the game for about three quarters of it.
Justice broke free on three touchdown runs of 51 or more yards. Hilton countered with three TD passes of 22 or more yards.
While Hurley started its average possession inside its own 20-yard line Honaker started near midfield, making it easier for the Tigers in the long run.
Kicker/punter Jordan Stout missed three long field goal tries between 43 and 48 yards, but he booted several kickoffs into the end zone and downed a 52-yard punt that stuck the Rebels at their own one-yard line.
"I thought Stout punted and kicked the ball extremely well and we created good field position," Honaker coach Doug Hubbard said. "And we got them deep in their end of the field a couple of times with a tackle for a loss.
"They struggled throwing the football and it's due to the injuries on their part. But it was a great win for us."
Justice broke off a 56-yard touchdown run in the first period and found a couple of running lanes in the second period when he raced 97 yards for his second TD. He added a 52-yard scoring run that had the Rebels within 29-22 with 1:45 remaining in the third period.
"Everybody knows Brady is going to carry the football and he carried us in the first half and third quarter," Hurley coach Greg Tester said. "You know we're very limited with the guys we got out.
"I was proud of our guys. We were in the ballgame. We had some turnovers in the first half that shouldn't have happened and it was play-calling by me and we got some penalties that hurt us."
Hurley played without three key starters. Two of them started in the secondary and Hilton, after getting sacked a few times early, took advantage of it. The sophomore quarterback threw TD passes to Avin Parrott, Hunter Eaton and Evan Harman.
"They were bringing some pressure, they were bringing all the linebackers," Hilton said. "I just found open spots.
"The line was holding their own. We just got everything going and got the passing game going good."
Justice had most of the yards on the ground, period in the first half.
Honaker got its running game going in the second half, when it gained 182 of its 220 rushing yards for the game.
"I thought Justice was really good," Hubbard added. "He ran hard he broke two long runs he was outstanding.
"You know if they hadn't had the injuries it would have been really interesting. They've got a good football team. I think we kept on and kept on and kind of wore them down in the second half."
Avin Parrott ran the ball 14 times for 103 yards and Bryson Bostic added 93 yards on 16 attempts, 56 on a second-half TD run.
Hurley....................8 8 6 0 — 22
Honaker...................7 15 13 14 — 49
Scoring Summary
Hur-Bra. Justice 56 run (Bra. Justice run)
Hon-Parrott 49 pass from Hilton (Stout kick)
Hon-Eaton 23 pass from Hiltton (Stout kick)
Hur-Bra. Justice 97 run (Bra. Justice run)
Hon-Hilton 1 run (Parrott run)
Hon-Bostic 3 run (Stout kick)
Hur-Bra. Justice 51 run (run failed)
Hon-Parrott 24 run (kick failed)
Hon-Harman 22 pass from Hilton (Stout kick)
Hon-Bostic 56 run (Stout kick)
Team Stats
First downs: Hur 14, Hon 15; Rushes-yards: Hur 47-302, Hon 36-220; Passing yards: Hur 22, Hon 177; Comp-Att-Int: Hur 1-6-2, Hon 9-15-0; Fumbles-lost: Hur 2-1, Hon 2-1; Penalties-yards: Hur 9-60, Hon 0-0; Punts-average: Hur 4-26.8, Hon 1-57.
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