Unbeatens meet as Honaker hosts Richlands
Written: Sep 29, 2011
 By ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
HONAKER, Va. — It might be a good idea to get to Stadium at Fuller Field early tonight.
Seats will be at a premium in the battle of the unbeatens.
It’s hard to believe, but the midway point of the high school football regular season tonight, and one team will suffer their first loss.
Richlands (5-0) will travel to Honaker (5-0) to take on the Tigers.
It’s no surprise the Blues come into the contest with their record unscathed. They have a 24-game regular season winning streak and will be the favorites against the Tigers.
“Needless to say Richlands has a very good football team,” Honaker coach Doug Hubbard said. “They are about three deep at each spot. But we’ll line up, play hard and see if we can play with them.”
Richlands is coming of a 49-0 shellacking of Patrick County. Running back Devon Johnson had a big night with 145 rushing yards with three touchdowns on only seven carries. Quarterback Reece Strong was 8-of-11 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown.
But Blues coach Greg Mance still doesn’t feel his team is playing to their full potential.
“We haven’t hit full stride yet,” Mance said. “We’re still a work in progress but I like our football team. We’ve gotten better each week we’ve played.”
It’s a bit of a surprise the Tigers are off to a great start. Honaker played in the Region D, Division 2 title game last year losing to Gate City, but graduated 16 seniors.
They have a young roster this season with only seven seniors listed, but they are coming off an impressive 62-20 win at Twin Valley.
“Honaker has a complete football team,” stated Mance. “They’ve had good special teams play, they have a very athletic group of linebackers and their defense is very physical. They have a 1,000 yard rusher (Jerod Honaker) and one of the best tight ends (Jeremiah Dye) in southwest Virginia. Their quarterback (Ty Hall) played last year and is solid.
“I think it will be two very good football teams playing and it will come down to big plays and turnovers.”
The Blues have a lot of weapons, so it will be a tough order for the Honaker defense. But the Tigers also have the ability to score. Hall is 32-of-60 passing with nine TD strikes. Jerod Honaker has 636 yards rushing with eight touchdowns through the first five games.
“We need to run the ball, execute and do the things we need to do,” Hubbard said. “Both teams can play, whoever makes the fewest mistakes should have a big advantage.
“If we make them earn everything they get, it will be a good game. We should have some confidence with five wins. It should be a great atmosphere to play in.
“We just need to be excited about the challenge and just go out and play our best football.”
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
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