3 takeaways from Creek Wood's 42-21 win over Harpeth

Creek Wood defeated Harpeth 42-21 on Friday night for its third consecutive win. Here are three takeaways from the win.

Offensive line continuity key to Red Hawks

Creek Wood coach Houston Thiel returned his offensive line intact from a year ago and that cohesiveness up front has been key for a dominating ground attack that has allowed Mitch Duke to get comfortable at quarterback.

It’s a group that is led by two big, strong tackles in Zach Bone and Laken Hayes. Thiel says that with a couple of games under their belts, you can really see the confidence of the unit increase each time they take the field.

“We are just playing solid, responsible football,” Bone said. “I love blocking for these guys.  I absolutely love it. It’s my favorite part. We just have to continue being consistent and playing as a group and we can be successful.”

Creek Wood has depth on defensive line

There are times when you can look out on the field and see four new defensive linemen lined up for Creek Wood.

Position coach (Rusty) Wells is blessed with a wealth of talented players and does a great job of rotating them in according to Thiel.

Some of the linemen – like Bone, Hayes and Stone Collins – play both sides of the ball, but ends Blaine Allsbrooks and Gage Bussell are used mainly on defense.

“Our defensive line is playing exceptional right now,” Thiel said. 

Harpeth has playmakers

The Harpeth offense showed flashes of brilliance on Friday, but the instances were too far apart.

The Indians (0-4) had their highest scoring output of the 2018 season, though one of the touchdowns came on a kickoff return and the other two came in the fourth quarter after Creek Wood had started rotating in its reserves.

Thomas Sloan threw a pair of touchdown passes – one was a 61-yard pass to Luke Gossett and the other was from 11 yards out to Cade Astren.

Davion Primm returned a kickoff 70 yards to pay dirt early in the second quarter.