The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Lookout Valley Yellowjackets 28-7 at home Friday for their first win of the season.
The Hornets took an early lead in the contest and held it the rest of the way behind a strong defensive effort as they got the victory in their homecoming game.
Huntland head football coach Bob Robertson said his team put together a solid performance throughout the contest.
“We’ve got some young guys playing, and I thought they played hard all night long,” he said before later talking about the positivity that can come from getting the first win of the season. “It makes us feel better. It makes the kids feel better. It makes the fans feel better. It’s going to be a whole lot easier to go back to work Monday.”
The Yellowjackets moved inside of Huntland’s 20-yard line on the opening drive of the game, but the Hornets made a defensive stop with Hunter Bates pressuring the opposing quarterback to force an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Facing a third down on their ensuing drive, the Hornets got a big pass play for a score as quarterback Evan Keller found a wide-open Eli Wiggs for a 69-yard touchdown pass down the sidelines. The point-after kick by Grant Morris made it a 7-0 game with 2:49 left in the first quarter.
After a punt by the Yellowjackets, the Hornets got another explosive scoring play as Keller called his own number for a 71-yard rushing touchdown to make it a 13-0 game with five seconds remaining in the opening period.
The teams traded punts on the next two drives before the Yellowjackets put together a six-minute possession which ended in a rushing touchdown to put the score at 13-7 in the final minute of the first half.
The Hornets led 13-7 at halftime.
The Hornets worked the ball slowly down the field to open the second half as they concluded a 63-yard drive with a rushing touchdown by Jarren Kinslow. Keller completed a pass in the end zone to DJ Ford on the ensuing two-point-conversion attempt to bring the lead to 21-7 with 6:20 left in the third quarter.
The Yellowjackets attempted to answer back as they moved into Huntland’s territory again, but Wiggs picked off a pass near the sidelines for a turnover.
The Hornets’ next drive stalled and they were forced to punt. However, the return man for the Yellowjackets muffed the punt with the Hornets recovering at Lookout Valley’s 30-yard line.
The Hornets took full advantage of the special-teams miscue as they ran more than five minutes off the clock before Keller connected with Wiggs for another receiving touchdown. Morris added a successful point-after try to put the score at 28-7 with 7:21 remaining.
The Hornets briefly had another turnover on Lookout Valley’s next possession as Wiggs recorded his second interception of the day at midfield, but the Yellowjackets knocked the ball out of Wiggs’ hands and recovered the fumble to get the ball right back.
However, the Hornets’ defense was undeterred and picked off the Yellowjackets for a third time a few plays later with Blaine Counts getting the turnover this time.
The Hornets punted the ball back to Lookout Valley with less than three minutes remaining, and the Yellowjackets were not able to score before time expired as the Hornets won by 21 points.
With the win, the Hornets improved to 1-4 on the season.
They will next play Friday at home against Collinwood High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
