Penalties cost the HVMS Warriors in a close contest at home
Published 11:54 am Friday, August 30, 2024
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel Happy Valley's Caiden Graham breaks down to make an open-field tackle.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel The Warriors' Isaac Scott looks to the sideline for instruction.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel Warriors quarterback Kaden Esterline breaks off a long run in the closing minutes of the first half.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel A Happy Valley wideout waits for the snap of the ball.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel Happy Valley's coaching staff discusses adjustments during the halftime break.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel The Warriors' Javi Carillo and Jeremiah Capps look to pave the way during a second-half running play.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel The Warriors' defensive front looks for a stop in the closing minutes of the game.
Star Correspondent/Ron Marvel With 5 minutes left in the game, Jeremiah Capps makes it a one-possession game for Happy Valley as he scoots into the end zone.
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By Ron Marvel
Star Correspondent
Often, the difference between winning and losing is which team can play the cleanest. Although no loss is fun, if the Happy Valley Middle School Warriors walk away from Thursday with a better understanding of that truth, their loss against the Johnson County Longhorns will have served a purpose. In a game in which the Warriors controlled the clock and ran over 40 offensive plays to the Longhorns’ 22, penalties and simple breakdowns in execution cost them an opportunity to win as they fell at home, 26-14.
The onset of the game was a defensive struggle as both teams had a difficult time getting their footing, but with just 56 seconds left in the first quarter, the Longhorns handed off to Brody Golden, who rumbled 51 yards to pay dirt and put the Longhorns up 6-0. The Warriors responded with a long drive of their own as Jeremiah Capps found a hole off left tackle and sprang to the end zone to make it 6-6 after the failed two-point conversion. At the 3:13 mark, and facing third and three, Golden once again broke several Warriors’ tackles and broke the tie with a 36-yard touchdown scamper. The Longhorns converted on a two-point conversion to make the score 14-6.
The Warriors were set up in great position to tie the game heading into the locker room as Kaden Esterline took a QB keeper 51 yards to set up the Warriors at the Longhorns’ 19-yard line with 1:41 left in the half. However, a holding call negated a good Capps run, and then another false-start penalty took all the air out of the Warriors’ drive as the half expired.
The third quarter saw the Warriors go on a long, methodical drive into Longhorns’ territory, aided by a nice Gavin Stanberg kickoff return and runs by Capps and Shanning Hendricks that kept the drive going. But just when the Warriors looked primed to tie the game, penalties stalled the drive, and the Longhorns took over at their own 22-yard line with just 54 seconds left in the third quarter. The first play saw the Longhorns hand off to Mason Dunn, who went in jet motion for a 38-yard pickup, putting the Longhorns at the Warriors’ 38 as the quarter expired. The Longhorns followed the old premise of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and handed off to Golden, who ran through several Warriors en route to a 31-yard touchdown to make it 22-6 after the two-point conversion.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors flashed some determination as they looked to draw within one score. Esterline found Bentley Forrester on a 10-yard pass play to keep the drive going, and Capps finished off the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to make the score 22-14 after the Hendricks two-point conversion.
With under three minutes left in the game, the Warriors needed one more stop, but facing third down and four, the Longhorns once again handed off to Golden, who broke one more, this time for 53 yards—his fourth of the night—which served as the nail in the coffin for the Junior Warriors.
Post-game, Warriors coach Kevin Kendall discussed his team’s efforts: “Johnson County played well tonight, and they did what they wanted to do more than what we wanted to do in key moments in the game. Penalties put us way back and took us out of what we wanted to do. Number 22 (Golden) is strong and fast, and credit to them as they kept the pressure on us the whole time. They executed, and we did not,” Kendall shared.
