After two tough losses on the road, the Harmony Grove Hornets looked to get a rebound back home in their first conference game of the season against the Dollarway Cardinals. The winner of this game would get a great head start going into the rest of the season for the conference title. Not only did the Hornets packed a powerful stinger on both sides of the ball, but they also made the Cardinals pay for their errors as Harmony Grove won big 45-6 on Friday night.
It was a scoreless first quarter for both teams as the offenses were looking to find their rhythm and figure out which game plan worked the best against the opposing defenses. The Hornets only accumulated 58 total yards of offense in the first quarter, while the Cardinals only accumulated 33 total yards.
In the second quarter, Hornets outside linebacker sacked dual-threat quarterback Briveon Sample to end their nine-play drive. Harmony Grove started to find a rhythm through a couple of big runs on the outside from running back Tobias Hicks and quarterback Caleb Johnson. The Hornets got on the scoreboard for the first time with a 19-yard running touchdown from Johnson. In the two-point conversion, Johnson was able to get a shovel pass to wide receiver Landon Garrett for a successful two-point conversion to make the score 8-0.
The Cardinals were looking to create a spark on offense with a successful drive of their own. The tenacious Hornets defense had other plans as Hornets defensive tackle Bacarre Thomas forced a fumble on the Cardinals running back and finally, Hornets linebacker Jeremiah Morgan returned the ball for a 57-yard touchdown. Johnson was able to find Garrett again for a successful two-point conversion to make the score 16-0.
After forcing Dollarway to punt on a three-and-out, Harmony Grove created another drive on several successful run plays on a five-play, 36-yard drive that resulted in a three-yard touchdown run from running back Daniel Hill. The senior back was able to punch another successful run of a two-point conversion to make the score 24-0 with 1:57 left in the second quarter.
The Hornets were not done from there. After forcing another three-and-out from their defense, the Hornets forced Dollarway to play safe with two safeties instead of their common scheme of one safety. The idea behind this was to have an extra man deep in the defense just in case another runner through the front-seven of the Cardinals' defense. Instead, Caleb Johnson spotted the two safeties crashing down, thus allowing him to make a deep connection to Landon Garrett for a 64-yard touchdown.
With the extra-point kick good, the Hornets went into halftime with a 31-0 lead over the Cardinals going into halftime. Harmony Grove outgained Dollarway in total yards accounted for 151-to-14 as their defense was dominant at the line of scrimmage, and their offense created big plays left-and-right.
The defense of Harmony Grove forced Dollarway to punt on another three-and-out to start the second half, the offense for the Hornets continued to find a rhythm. It only took three plays for the Hornets to score again and enact the mercy as they forced the score 38-0.
The offense for Dollarway finally found the scoreboard with a one-yard play, but the two-point conversion was no good with a 38-6 score. On the following kickoff, Hornets returner Landon Garrett returned the ball for a 73-yard kickoff return to put the ball at the seven-yard line of Dollarway. Three plays into the drive, sophomore Braylon Garcia got the last touchdown of the game as the Hornets finished the game 45-6.
The Hornets outgained the Cardinals in total yards accounted for 251-to-114. Harmony Grove only had seven offensive drives in the game as they were able to score in every possession after their first two drives in the first quarter. Their offense was able to find glaring holes in some of the biggest defensive strengths of Dollarway.
Caleb Johnson threw for 87 yards and a touchdown on six completions (out of ten passing attempts). He also rushed for 43 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Running back Tobias Hicks rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Hornets crashed the line of scrimmage with their talented and experienced defensive line. Their linebackers were quick to read the triple-option offense of the Cardinals throughout the entire night. The defense accounted for seven tackles for loss and two sacks on the triple-option front of Dollarway.
Middle linebacker Tobias Hicks accounted for five and a half tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack. Defensive tackle Walker Sweat accounted for four and a half tackles and two tackles for loss. Outside linebacker Jermaine Edwards accounted for five tackles and two tackles for loss. Finally, linebacker Jeremiah Morgan accounted for two tackles, one sack, and the fumble returned for a touchdown in the second quarter.
When asked about coming out of two tough road losses to Fordyce and Harding Academy and getting back into a more positive mentality, Harmony Grove head coach Ernie Horstkamp had this say after the game, "We had a great week of preparation and just wanted to get back on the right track after a tough couple weeks. We got outperformed last week, there's no doubt that Harding Academy took it to us in the second half. There was the challenge to say 'listen, let's come out and let's worry about us,' and that's what we did all week. What they showed tonight came out with a different energy level of intensity, and we executed well in all three phases."
The Harmony Grove Hornets (2-2) are feeling confident in their ability to contend for the 3A Region 6 conference for the remainder of the season.