Unbeaten Tigers pull away from Rebels
Hurley (15) vs. Honaker (48)
Written: Oct 18, 2014
By LLOYD COMBS
for the Daily Telegraph
HURLEY, Va. — Hurley gave Honaker a scare in the first half.
Honaker gave all its future opponents something to fear with its play in the second half.
The Tigers scored four unanswered touchdowns after halftime and pulled away to a 48-15 Black Diamond District win over the Rebels Friday night at Smiley Ratliff Field at The Cliff.
Austin Smith gained 161 of his 219 rushing yards and scored both Honaker TDs in the first half to help his club take a 14-7 lead by the intermission.
Casey Dye threw just three passes in the second half, but all of them went for touchdowns as the Tigers both drove the field and took advantage of Hurley turnovers.
"The first half I think they were more intense than we were, we were a little flat," Dye said. "We kind of underestimated them a little bit.
“They practice here on this muddy field and had a little bit of an advantage on it.
"But, once we got used to it we came back in the second half. We knew they had a good team so we knew we had to play with a little more intensity and drive the ball and get some scores."
Dye tossed a one-yard TD pass to Tyler Cook to cap a 69-yard drive and make it 21-7 early in the third period and added two long scoring strikes to Jordan Smith, one of them after a Hurley fumble to turn a close game into a runaway.
"Jordan a good job reading the corners, knowing where they were at," Dye added. "He didn't actually run the routes he was supposed to, but he found the open spot and I was able to hook up with him. He read the corners well."
Hurley (5-2) got a couple of good stops on defense in the first half and got a pair of long touchdown runs on offense, one in each half. Tray Oliver sprinted 55 yards for a second-quarter score and Brady Justice broke loose for a 71-yard TD run in the fourth period.
"We came out with some intensity and played hard first in the first half. It was 14-7 and it was a ballgame," Hurley coach Greg Tester said. In the second half we made some mental mistakes that really hurt us and we had some turnovers and gave up two or three scores.
"But, overall my boys played their hearts out. Honaker is 7-0 for a reason, they've got a good football team. I just hate the final score looked worse than what it was."
Hayden Horn added an 8-yard TD run and Dakota Hart capped the scoring with a 47-yard run late in the game as Honaker finished with 521 yards of total offense.
"We just kept missing opportunities in the first half, but give it to Hurley. They kept fighting and fighting and fighting and came out ready to play," Honaker coach Doug Hubbard said. "In the second half we just changed.
"We didn't change much offensively or defensively, it was just more changes in our attitude toward the game. We came out and made some plays and got some turnovers, so we took advantage of our opportunities and scored 21 points in the third quarter."
The game was delayed by an incident after a play midway through the fourth quarter. Players had to be restrained on both sides, but there were no ejections and both coaching staffs and the officials got control of the situation quickly. A couple of fans were reportedly ejected.
at The Cliff
Honaker..........................7 7 21 13 — 48
Hurley..............................0 7 0 8 — 15
Scoring Summary
Hon-A. Smith 4 run (Stout kick)
Hon-A. Smith 71 run (Stout kick)
Hur-Oliver 55 run (Tester kick)
Hon-Cook 1 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
Hon-J. Smith 35 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
Hon-J. Smith 37 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
Hon-Horn 8 run (Stout kick)
Hur-B. Justice 71 run (B. Justice pass from Lester)
Hon-Hart 47 run (kick failed)
Team Stats
First Downs: Hon 19, Hur 9; Rushes-Yards: Hon 49-417, Hur 26-182; Passing Yards: Hon 104, Hur 59; Comp-Att-Int: Hon 7-14-0, Hur 4-8-0; Fumbles-Lost: Hon 2-0, Hur 3-2; Penalties: Hon 3-25, Hur 8-62; Punts-Average: Hon 0-0, Hur 4-25-8.
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