Hardaway unable to overcome early deficit, falls to Westover

Just six days removed from an emotional comeback win against rival Columbus, the Hardaway Hawks dropped a 35-7 game on Thursday night against Region 1-4A foe Westover at Kinnett Stadium on Thursday night.

Turnovers and special teams miscues plagued the Hawks all night. The tone was set less than two minutes in as the Patriots forced Hardaway to punt. Denarrius Morgan broke through to block the attempt, then scampered 45 yards into the end zone to give Westover a 7-0 lead before their offense even touched the football.

“The blocked punt in the first half with not even two minutes off the clock was big, big, big,” said Hardaway coach Michael Woolridge. “All three phases of the game made mistakes tonight.”

The defense recovered in the first quarter to keep the Westover offense off the scoreboard, but the Patriots found the end zone twice in the second quarter before a late Marco Lee 7-yard touchdown run put the Hawks on the board at 21-7 going into halftime.

In the third quarter, Hardaway found more traction on offense than in the first half but turned the ball over once by fumble and once by coming up short on fourth down. Westover was able to ice the game in the fourth quarter with a pair of touchdowns, while the Hawks turned the ball over on downs again early in the final frame, then ended the next two drives with a fumble, then an interception.

“We were just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Woolridge said. “Offensively, we moved the ball a little in the second half, but we fumbled the ball twice. When you have drives going, those are big momentum killers.”

Woolridge said the approach to Thursday’s game was the same as in the win against Columbus last Friday, just with a different outcome.

“Westover gave us exactly what we thought we’d get,” he said. “We evaluated them, we watched film, we just didn’t execute tonight.

“Tonight, our bread and butter was there, but we just didn’t execute. We made mistakes. We fumbled the ball, defensively, we missed a couple of assignments…we lost the game as a team. We won the game last week against Columbus as a team, we lost this game as a team.”

In the postgame huddle, Woolridge emphatically told his players not to hang their heads, but rather to take the loss in stride like the young men they were. Woolridge said it wasn’t so much to avoid the bad habits that plagued the Hardaway program the past few years from coming back; rather, it was to keep his Hawks together as a unit.

“I don’t want our kids to self-destruct when bad things happen,” he said. “Westover’s a good football team, and I tip my hat to them, but at the same time, I tell my kids when bad things happen, we don’t fall apart, we come together. That’s what family does.”

Thursday’s outcome partially broke the six-team logjam of teams at 1-1 in Region 1-4A coming into this week’s action. Westover moves to 2-1, a half-game behind 2-0 Cairo pending its Friday home game against Americus-Sumter, while Hardaway falls to a 1-2 region record, a half-game ahead of 0-2 Shaw prior to the Raiders’ game against Carver on Friday at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

Both Westover and Hardaway have an upcoming bye week before their next games. The Patriots face Columbus at home at Mills Stadium in Albany, while the Hawks will play Northside at Kinnett, both on Friday, Oct. 14.

Key play: Westover set the tone early in the first quarter. After the defense forced Hardaway to punt, Denarrius Morgan blocked the Hawks’ attempt and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead with just 94 seconds off the clock.

Difference makers: Westover – Greg Marshall, QB, 15 rushes, 124 yards, 2 TD, one passing TD; Jonathan Mock, 8 rushes, 38 yards, TD; Daveon Sanders, 11 rushes, 44 yards. Hardaway – Marco Lee, 15 rushes, 77 yards, TD; Jakobe Ellerbee, 13 rushes, 70 yards; Tyler Raleigh, 9 rushes, 30 yards.

Coach quote: “We got four ballgames left, so there’s a lot of football left. I told the guys we still have an excellent chance to make the playoffs, we play three teams here in (Columbus), it’s just time to go to work. We just have to forget about this one and move forward,” said Hardaway coach Michael Woolridge.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Hardaway unable to overcome early deficit, falls to Westover."