Hornets Are District Champs!
In his first year as head coach of the Hamilton Hornet football team, Caleb Obert has led Penney High to another District Championship.
The Hornets used a balanced attack in out scoring the Maysville Wolverines 56-34 to claim the Class !, District 8 Title. Obert remarked," Offensively, we played our most complete game of the year by running the ball very well and throwing it very efficiently. We also did a lot of good things defensively."
Hamilton received the opening kickoff and steadily marched down the field for the games initial score. Penney started the drive at their own 38. Three consecutive runs by T.C. East gave the Hornets a first down at the Maysville 31. A 4 yard run by Korby Ford followed by a pass to Ford from Jaran Richman gave Hamilton a 1st down at the Wolverine 20. A 7 yard run by East and a pass reception by Telly Harper put the ball on the Maysville 8 yard line. Two more runs by East and the Hornets were on the board. The kick was wide right giving Penney a 6-0 lead with 8:34 on the first quarter clock. The Wolverines came right back with a score of their own on a 16 yard TD run by Troy Powers. The 2-point try failed leaving the score knotted at 6 and 6:32 left in the quarter. LaTroy Harper returned the subsequent kickoff to the Maysville 38 yard line. A rush by East, a second by Kyle Elliott, and another by East gave Hamilton a 1st down at the Wolverine 47. A pass reception by Ford gave the Hornets a first down at the Maysville 35. Two plays later, Richman ran 29 yards for the score. East ran it in for the 2-point conversion and a 14-6 Penney lead with 4:04 remaining in the quarter. The Wolverines would record 2 first downs before turning the ball over on downs at the Hamilton 29 yard line.
The 2nd quarter began with the Hornets looking at a 2nd and 2 at the Penney 37. Two consecutive runs by East gave Hamilton the ball on the Maysville 48. On the next play, LaTroy Harper got behind the Wolverine defense and Richman hit him with a 48 yard TD pass. Brock Swindler's kick made the score 21-6 thirty-eight seconds into the 2nd quarter. It took Maysville just 2 minutes to cut into the Hornet lead when Matt White completed a 34 yard pass to Kaleb Popplewell. The 2-point conversion run was stopped short of the goal line leaving the score 21-12. Penney's next possession started at the Hamilton 28 yard line, but ended on the Wolverine 41 when a 4th and 6 play was unsuccessful. Maysville would move the ball all the way to the Hornet 19 before the Penney defense stopped them short on a 4th and 1 play. On first down, and the quarter coming to an end, Richman found LaTroy Harper for a 44 yard pass reception. Another pass completion to Ford gave Hamilton a first down at the Wolverine 26. Richman soon completed a pass to Telly Harper for another first down at the Maysville 14. With 33 seconds remaining in the opening half, Richman hit LaTroy Harper on a slant for the score. Swindler kicked the ball through the uprights, and the Hornets took a 28-12 lead to the locker room.
The Wolverines received the 2nd half kickoff, but fumbled the ball on their first offensive play of the 3rd quarter and Richman made the recovery on the Maysville 35 yard line. A pass from Richman to Ford gave Penney a first down at the 22. Three rushes by East and the Hornets had scored their first TD of the second half. A 2-point conversion pass from Ford to Telly Harper brought the score to 36-12 just 58 seconds into the 3rd quarter. The Wolverines would cut into the Hamilton lead on their next possession with the final yard on a run by Matt White. White was able to run in for the 2-point conversion bringing the score to 36-20 and 8:42 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Penney's next possession began on their own 42. A couple of pitches to Ford gave the Hornets a first down at the Maysville 34. A 2nd and 4 run by Kyle Elliott gave Hamilton another first down at the 17. Four consecutive rushes by East, the last a 1 yard touchdown, gave Penney a 42-20 lead with 4:51 left in the quarter. The kick was wide right. The Wolverines next possession was short lived. After a 2 yard gain on first down, Mason McFall and Kyle Elliott tackled the ball carrier for a 3 yard loss, and East tackled the ball carrier for a 9 yard loss on third down forcing a Maysville punt. Penney would start their next scoring drive at their own 45. A run by Ford gave Hamilton a first down at the Wolverine 42. An alert Telly Harper recovered a Hornet fumble on the next play giving Penney a first and ten at the Maysville 26. Three plays later, East ran for a first down to the Wolverine 12 yard line. After a run by East on first down and a fumble recovery by Richman, the 3rd quarter came to an end with Hamilton facing a 3rd and 6 at the Maysville 8 yard line.
On the first play of the 4th quarter, East ran over the defenders for the score. Swindler's kick was good, and eight seconds into the final quarter, the Hornets led 49-20. Maysville would begin their next possession on their own 21. Six plays later, Troy Powers scored from the Penney 1 yard line. Wyatt Gregory prevented the 2-point pass conversion leaving the score 49-26 with 9:49 left in the game. Hamilton got great field position when Kenny Pulley ran the kickoff back to the Wolverine 39 yard line. Two runs by East and one by Ford gave Penney a first down at the Maysville 24. Two plays later, the Hornets had a first down at the 9. A 6 yard run by Ford was followed by a 3 yard touchdown run by Elliott. The kick by Swindler increased the lead to 56-26 and 5:07 remaining in the game. The Wolverines next possession ended in a punt which was fumbled by Hamilton but recovered by Telly Harper at the Penney 45. Four plays later McFall punted the ball back to Maysville. The Wolverines would score on the Penney junior varsity when White hit Austin Podbevsek for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion run by White made the final score 56-34.
The Hornet offensive line provided the way for 335 rushing yards and 177 passing yards on the night. East ran the ball 28 times for 169 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ford rushed for 95 yards on 10 carries, Richman 37 yards and 1 TD on 4 carries, Elliott 19 yards and 1 touchdown on 4 carries, and Nick Hartley rushed for 4 yards on 2 carries. Richman completed 9 passes in 11 attempts for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns. LaTroy Harper caught 3 passes for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns, Ford caught 4 passes for 43 yards, and Telly Harper caught 2 passes for 22 yards. Pulley returned 1 kickoff for 45 yards, LaTroy Harper returned 2 kickoffs for 26 yards ,and Lane Horinek returned 1 kickoff 7 yards. LaTroy Harper returned 1 punt for 19 yards. The leading tacklers for Hamilton were Garrett Trosper (1 sack and 1 tackle for loss) and Kyle Elliott with 9 each. Kenny Pulley was next with 8, followed by Tyler Trosper with 7, T.C. East with 5 (1 sack and 1 tackle for loss), Wyatt Gregory (1 tackle for loss), Mason McFall, Brock Swindler, and Jaran Richman with 4, Telly Harper, LaTroy Harper, and Caden Brown 3, Korby Ford 2, Derek Dixon, Ethan Thompson ,and Nick Hartley 1.
Senior right offensive tackle Devin Trosper suffered an ankle sprain early in the game and was replaced by sophomore Clayton Cook who performed very admirably. Penney High's record improves to 9-3 as they get ready to host the West Platte Bluejays this Friday night in the quarter finals of the State playoffs. An improving Bluejays team, who Hamilton defeated in Weston 35-8 in week 6, won their District when they defeated North Platte 38-26. Obert said this about their next opponent, "We will need to tighten up our defense for West Platte's rushing attack."
