Middle school Hornets top Unity in conference bowl game

S

The Huntland Middle School Hornets beat the Unity Lions 36-20 at home Tuesday in an Elk Valley Conference bowl game.

The Hornets scored touchdowns on five of their six full drives for the day as they closed out their season with a double-digit victory.

A fourth-down pass from Bryant Mooney to Charlie Jackson allowed the Hornets to move from the 50-yard line to Unity’s 25-yard line on their opening possession.

Adon Bass carried the ball into the end zone after receiving a lateral from Davis Keith later in the same drive to conclude a 69-yard possession which took up more than nine minutes of game time, including the entirety of the first quarter.

Mooney added a two-point conversion to make it an 8-0 game with 6:46 left in the first half.

The Lions got into Huntland’s territory on their first drive, but the Hornets were able to force a turnover on downs at their 37-yard line.

The Hornets then put together another scoring drive with Mooney scoring a rushing touchdown and Bass adding a two-point conversion to make it a 16-0 game with 17 seconds remaining in the half.

They led 16-0 at halftime.

The Lions started the second half off with a bang as they broke off a 53-yard touchdown run to put the score at 16-6 less than 30 seconds into the third quarter.

A big kickoff return by Bass set up the Hornets at Unity’s 34-yard line to start their next drive, and Bass finished the possession with another rushing touchdown to make it a 22-6 game with 5:16 left in the third quarter.

The Lions stayed within striking distance as they put together another touchdown drive to cut the deficit back down to 22-14 with 3:48 to go in the third quarter.

The Hornets slowly worked the ball down the field on their next possession with Mooney scoring his second rushing touchdown of the day to grow the lead to 28-14 with seven minutes left.

The Hornets then successfully executed an onside kick with Coby Martin recovering the ball for Huntland after it bounced over the first line of Unity’s kick-return team.

However, the Lions forced a turnover later in the ensuing possession with an interception being returned to midfield.

The Lions scored a rushing touchdown off of the turnover to make it a one-score game again at 28-20 with 1:31 left to play.

The Hornets pulled back ahead by double digits on the second play of their next drive as Bass broke several tackles and ran for a 53-yard touchdown with 1:07 left. Bass also scored on the ensuing two-point conversion to bring the lead up to 36-20.

The next onside-kick attempt for the Hornets rolled backwards, but Huntland was able to recover it after a Unity player ran in to touch the ball without securing it. The Hornets then kneeled out the clock to clinch the win by 16.

Bass ended the game with 20 carries for 178 yards and three catches for 10 yards.

Mooney had 82 rushing yards on 14 carries and 26 passing yards on three completions.

Jackson caught one pass for 25 yards.

With the win, the Hornets ended their season with a record of 6-3.

posteditor
posteditor
Articles: 17424