Big first half sparks Honaker past Spartans
Honaker (48) vs. Eastside (6)
Written: Sep 13, 2014
BY ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
HONAKER, Va. — Since the consolidation of St. Paul and Coeburn High Schools formed Eastside in 2011, they have played Honaker four times.
All the games have been wins for the Tigers. The previous three have been relatively close, that wasn’t the case at EMATS Stadium on Friday.
Honaker (2-0) remained undefeated on the young season after routing the Spartans 48-6.
Honaker came into the contest as heavy favorites against a young, rebuilding Eastside (0-3) squad. They didn’t let the Spartans get comfortable, the Tigers scored the first four times they had the ball and held a 41-6 halftime lead. The clock ran continuously in the second half.
“You have to take care of business in games like this,” Honaker coach Doug Hubbard said. “I thought we relaxed a little toward the end of the first half. We got a lot of kids in the game, a lot of kids got to play, and several players got to do some different things.”
Eastside started three freshmen and eight sophomores in a rebuilding year. The Spartans got on the scoreboard before halftime. Quarterback Justin Banks connected with Shon Sartin for a 33-yard gain. It set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Banks for Eastside’s lone score.
“Honaker is a very, very, very good football team,” said Eastside coach Matt Hamilton. “There were a lot of things that we could not do in any shape, form or fashion.
“I have a lot of young kids that have to grow up. Playing a team like Honaker is not a good thing for a team like us. They did exactly what they’re supposed to do every down and we didn’t really have a good effort tonight.”
The Tigers took the opening kickoff and moved 66 yards in only two plays. Austin Smith had a 39-yard rush on the first play. Quarterback Casey Dye found Avin Parrott running up the left sideline with a 27-yard scoring strike. It was a precursor of things to come.
Smith scored on a 2-yard rush the Tigers next possession. Bryson Bostic had a 9-yard run to pay dirt. Dye threw two more touchdown passes. A 38-yard pass to Parrott and a 6-yard scoring strike to tight end Casey Harmon.
“The line gave me a lot of time tonight,” said Dye who was 4-of-5 passing for 82 yards. “The receivers ran great routes. We were able to have a lot of success running the ball up the middle, our play action then helped the passing game a lot.”
Bostic added a 1-yard plunge for his second score. Fullback Ibrahim Tawfeek scored the final Tiger touchdown on another 1-yard rush.
Smith had 114 of the Tigers 239 yards on the ground. Eastside was held to 177 yards of total offense.
“The defense was where they needed to be most of the night,” remarked Hubbard. “They were making adjustments to what Eastside was doing. They were able to get up there and stop the Jet (offense) and our pass rush was really good.”
The Tigers travel to Wise Central on Friday, while Eastside is on the road at Lee High next week.
Eastside...........0 6 0 0 — 6
Honaker..........27 14 7 0 — 48
Scoring Summary
HON—Parrott 27 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
HON—A. Smith 2 run (Stout kick)
HON—Bostic 9 run (Stout kick)
HON—Parrott 38 pass from Dye (kick failed)
HON—Harmon 6 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
HON—Bostic 1 run (Stout kick)
EAST—Banks 3 run (kick failed)
HON—Tawfeek 1 run (Burton kick)
Team Stats
First Downs: EAST 6, HON 14; Rushes-Yards: EAST 33-84, HON 33-239; Passing Yards: EAST 93, HON 130; Comp-Att-Int: EAST 2-5-1, HON 6-10-0; Fumbles-Lost: EAST 4-3, HON 2-1; Penalties-Yards: EAST 2-14, HON 1-10; Punts-Average: EAST 5-30, HON 2-32.
|