Honaker limits Devils to zero rush yards
Honaker (42) vs. Castlewood (8)
Written: Oct 25, 2014
By ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
CASTLEWOOD, Va. — With over 20 seniors, including several talented athletes, the Tigers came into the season with high expectations. Those hopes haven’t been diminished through the first eight games.
Castlewood put up a strong fight, but it wasn’t enough as Honaker rolled to a 42-6 victory at B.C. White Stadium.
The Blue Devils forced a punt on Honaker’s first offensive possession and Spencer Elam prevented a Tigers’ touchdown by recovering a fumble on the Castlewood 1, but the other three first half possessions resulted in touchdowns for the Tigers.
“We did a little better this week as far as miscues, than what we had been doing the last few weeks,” Castlewood coach Darrell Taylor said. “At times we played well and my kids did play hard.
“Honaker has a good team, you take their size and speed capability, and they were by far the best team we’ve played.”
The Tigers defense stood out more than the offense, which wasn’t bad. Castlewood (2-7) had negative-2 yards rushing in the first half, and finished the contest with zero yards rushing on 26 attempts.
The Blue Devils lone score came on an interception that Matt Amburgey returned 57 yards for a touchdown. The Castlewood offense didn’t come close to scoring. Quarterback Brad Traverse was 5-of-22 passing for 67 yards.
“The line just did a fantastic job,” Honaker linebacker Hayden Horn said. “The big boys up front did a great job of keeping the blockers off the linebackers. That helped slow down the Castlewood running game.
“Defensively we play as a team, work as a team and win as a team. That has been the key to our success.”
Dual-threat quarterback Casey Dye was again the sparkplug. Dye scored the first touchdown running the option and scooting around the right end untouched for a 32-yard score. The next series Dye scored on a busted play, starting out right and then cutting back to the left to score on a 37-yard rush breaking tackles along the way.
“The play broke down a little bit,” said Dye. “The guys saw me running and made some good blocks for me and I was able to get into the end zone.
Honaker (8-0) then got the ball after a Castlewood punt with 40 seconds remaining in the first half. They scored in only 17 seconds on two plays. Dye found tight end Casey Harmon in the back of the end zone with a 37-yard pass.
“Castlewood covered the pass good at first and I rolled out” Dye said. “I saw Casey get behind the safety and I just threw it up to him and he was able to go get it.”
The Tigers lead was 21-0 at halftime. They took the second half kickoff and put together a 6-play, 65 yard drive all on the ground with Chase Johnson scoring on a 1-yard rush. Johnson also added a 43-yard TD run. Dakota Hart added the final Honaker TD on a 2-yard run.
“We were a little sluggish the first drive and then we picked it up,” Honaker coach Doug Hubbard said. “I thought our first string defense was sensational all night long. They kept making plays.”
With Halloween next Friday, Honaker will next play at Grundy on Thursday with a 7 o’clock kickoff scheduled.
At B.C. White Stadium
Honaker..................0 21 14 7—42
Castlewood...............0 0 0 6— 6
HON—Dye 32 run (Stout kick)
HON—Dye 37 run (Stout kick)
HON—Harman 37 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
HON—Johnson 1 run (Stout kick)
HON—Johnson 43 run (Stout kick)
CAS—Amburgey 57 interception return (pass failed)
HON—Hart 2 run (Burton kick)
———
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: HON 16, CAS 7, Rushes-Yards: HON 32-337, CAS 26-0; Passing Yards: HON 103, CAS 67; Comp-Att-Int: HON 6-13-1, CAS 5-22-1; Fumbles-Lost: HON 4-3, CAS 0-0; Penalties-Yards: HON 3-30, CAS 5-40; Punts-Average: HON 1-36, CAS 6-21.
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