Hargrave Tigers Take Down Louisburg Junior College
PG’s strike first and often to crush LC 34-13
Louisburg, NC – Hargrave Military Academy scored four touchdowns in the first quarter on Sunday to go ahead and stay ahead of the Louisburg College Hurricanes. Tiger running back Keiland Williams scored three touchdowns to pace HMA and a pair of Jarrett Dunston touchdown passes helped lead Hargrave to a 34-13 victory to move them to 6-1 on the season.
The Hurricanes, who came into the game undefeated, proved to be overmatched by the potent offense and speedy defense of Hargrave. The Tigers got on the board on their first possession when Dunston found receiver Vidal Hazelton for a thirty yard touchdown strike, giving the PG’s a 7-0 lead early in the game.
Louisburg could not get much working on their first possession and on third down, corner back Ryan Brinson picked off the Hurricane pass and returned it to the LC 25-yard line to set up the Tiger offense in great field position.
It took Hargrave just a few plays to find pay dirt once again. This time Williams took it in from fifteen yards out to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead after the Stephen Phillips extra point.
George Pierson continued to drive the ball deep on each kickoff, leaving Louisburg in a hole all day long. The Tiger defense was stout in the first half lead by linebackers Darius Dewberry, Mario Harvey, Doug Wilson, Chris Jaeger, Malcolm Robertson, Charles Owens, and Rhakeem Smith, along with defensive backs Anthony Johnson, Ryan Brinson, Zaire Kitchen, Corey Goodson, Khalil Conteh, Adam Stewart, Ross Hagberg, and Merf Trout. The stellar defensive play continued to give the offense outstanding field position.
On the next offensive drive for the Tigers it was running back Morgan Green, along with Williams who carried the load. Green finished the day with 60 yards, while Williams had 120 yards. Williams carried the ball into the end zone for his second score of the game to give Hargrave a 21-0 lead late in the first quarter.
After another stop by the Hargrave defense the Tiger “O” hit the field looking to add to their lead. This time it took just one play for Jarrett Dunston to find a wide open Cody Slate for a 65-yard scoring strike to give HMA a 27-0 edge going into the second quarter.
The defensive line kept the Louisburg offense guessing all afternoon. Jerrell Powe, Callahan Bright, Justin Mincey, Horace Hubbard, Ernie Hodge, Melvin Alaeze, Aaron Horace, and Darrius Massenburg proved to be too strong for the Hurricane offensive line. The Louisburg rushing game was non existent due to the stellar play of the front men.
The Hargrave running game was very effective. Running backs Joel Ellerbe, Alfonso Wells, Al Pierce, Cedric Hickman, and George Helow, coupled with Williams and Green fought for hard yards versus a very aggressive defense.
The Hargrave offensive line was challenged throughout the afternoon, but stepped up in impressive fashion. Matt Hardrick, John Jerry, Mike Harness, Jon Meldrum, Brian Kelly, Andrew Farr, Andrew Timme, along with tight ends Mike Ryder, Cody Slate, and TC Drake stayed on their blocks to spring some big runs and give Dunston and quarterback Tim Jones time to find open receivers or to tuck the ball and run.
The second half proved to be much of the same. The Hargrave defense finally surrendered their first touchdown late in the third quarter when Louisburg found an open receiver on a long pass route to cut the lead to 27-6.
Louisburg put up another touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but the Hargrave offense responded with another touchdown of their own when Williams scored his third of the game on a twenty yard run through the middle to put the Tigers up 34-13 where it would end as the final seconds ticked off of the clock.
Wide receiver Vidal Hazelton had a big day receiving with five catches for just under 100-yards and a touchdown. Slate and tight end Mike Ryder added to the catches while receivers Joe Nairn, Craig Hayden, Francis Johns, and tight end TC Drake blocked with accuracy to spring longer runs on those receptions.
The Tigers move to 6-1 on the season with their fifth win in a row. Hargrave will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Bridgewater, Virginia for a rematch with highly ranked Bridgewater College. The Tigers defeated BC 30-26 earlier in the season and will be looking to double up their win total versus the Eagles. Game time is slated for 3:00 PM.
