It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but in the end Hoggard was effective enough to pull out a 29-14 win on Friday night. Head Coach Scott Braswell, like all good coaches, is a critic. While he was able to point out many of the mistakes the Vikings made, some false start penalties and an interception that was returned for a touchdown by the Durham Hillside Hornets’ defense, ultimately he was very proud of his team and how they stepped up when they lost starting quarterback Mark Crecco to injury early in the first quarter.
Shawn Sidbury was again the difference on offense, and his fourth touchdown of the night, which gave him 219 yards rushing yards, put the game out of reach. As the game wore on, the Hoggard offensive line started pushing Hillside around and created big gaps for Sidbury to run through at the line of scrimmage. Braswell said, “We called on them, especially when Mark went out, and I thought they did an excellent job.” It took a while to assert themselves, but towards the end of the third quarter with Hoggard TJ Leifheit’s flattening of a Hillside defensive lineman, who must have weighed 300 pounds, you could sense that the Vikings had made their statement - no one was coming into Hoggard Stadium and pushing them around, and certainly not winning.
Hillside got on the board first and looked like a team that could give the number one team in the state some problems. Physically, they had the size to match Hoggard and they were the fastest team the Vikings had faced all year. With 6:49 in the first, quarterback Cory Gattis took the snap, broke containment and was gone, leaving a wake of Hoggard defenders chasing him, but no one was coming close to catching him.
It appeared that this may not have been Hoggard’s night. Down 7-0, Hoggard was unable to respond on offense, and Hillside was able to drive the ball down to the Hoggard 25 yard line setting up a key fourth down play. Ian Shanklund, who rushed from his safety spot often on this night, was able to pressure the Hornets’ quarterback who was forced to throw it away.
Just as it seemed they dodged a bullet, John Wayne showed up. The Vikings fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, and Hillside was able to recover on the Hoggard 17 yard line. Hoggard had an injured starting quarterback, were making untypical errors, and were facing the best team they had seen all year. It looked like they were in trouble.
However, the momentum of the game was about to change.
The Hoggard defense forced a fourth down situation again, and with Hillside just out of their field goal kickers range, they decided to go for it. The Vikings’ Rishawn Boyd was able to intercept the Hillside pass attempt at the Hoggard five and returned it out to the 31 yard line. The Hoggard coaching staff wasn’t swayed by Sidbury’s fumble on his last carry, because they gave it to him on their first snap and boy did he make them look good. Sidbury got loose in the open field, and when that happens, you can put six on the board. With 5:48 to play in the first half, Hoggard had tied the game at seven and taken some of the chill out of the air for the Viking fans who packed the stadium.
Hoggard’s defense forced a three and out for Hillside on their next possession and the offense took over close to midfield. With a mixture of Sidbury and Busby on the ground, Hoggard drove the ball down to the three yard line where Sidbury capped the drive with his second touchdown of the night. Casey Barth, who is virtually automatic on point afters, came in merely as a decoy however, as holder Scotty Braswell took the snap and completed it to David Coleman, much to everyone’s surprise, giving Hoggard a 15-7 lead that would stand at the half.
The Vikings came out of the locker room and drove the ball down the field like they were on a mission. Coach Braswell admitted after the game that he has a Busby Package, plays for his running specialist quarterback, but was out of them by halftime. Well, they came up with something that worked well and with 7:05 left in the third quarter, Sidbury scored his third touchdown of the night and with the traditional point after, Hoggard went up 22-7.
After the Viking defense held, there was a moment where it felt like the game was over. Hillside promptly squashed that notion as they picked off a Hoggard pass, which was forced to throw on third and long. The Hornets returned the interception all the way for a touchdown and were right back in the game, down 22-14 with 2:03 left in the third quarter.
Then the game got even more interesting. Hoggard was forced to punt on their next possession and Hillside was able to recover after the punt was touched by the Vikings. From up fifteen points, to up a touchdown, to giving the opponent possession in good field position. Uh-oh.
But the Hoggard defense who has come up big all year, did so again. Hillside had a fourth and eight from the Viking 31 with just under five minutes to play, but Whit Beavers came up with his second sack of the drive and gave the ball back to the offense.
Hoggard had the ball at the Hillside 40 yard line with just over three minutes remaining, and Sidbury would put the game on ice from there. He took the handoff and burst through the left side of the line and was gone, taking it 60 yards for his fourth touchdown of the game, and putting him over 200 yards on the game.
Hoggard will now host the East Final next Friday as Southern Durham comes to town. This will be a #1 versus #2 class as the top seeds have advanced and will settle it on the field next week. After playing them last year, Braswell said with their youth and athleticism, “I picked them to win the states for this year.” Now he’s hoping that his pick was wrong.