Published: September 06, 2008 01:17 am            

FOOTBALL: Heights makes sure it doesn’t fall to 0-3

BUNKER HILL — You knew something had to give.

Hamilton Heights and Maconaquah came into Friday night’s Mid-Indiana Conference game with identical 0-2 records. The Huskies left little doubt early which team was getting its first win. Heights scored 27 first quarter points en route to a 54-7 victory — the Huskies ninth straight win in the series..

Special teams play pretty much set the tone in this one.

After Heights scored on its first possession, Maconaquah was forced to punt after going three-and-out.

Punt returner Logan Cunningham fielded the punt and raced down the sideline 64 yards to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead with just 3:32 off the clock.

The Braves again punted to Cunningham on their next possession and the 153-pound freshman speedster took the punt 55 yards before being tackled on the Maconaquah five yard line. On the very next play Nathan Pickett rolled into the endzone giving Heights a 21-0 lead.

For coach Curt Trent and the Huskies, this was an important game.

“In the last two games against really good teams we did things well, but we just came up on the short end of the stick,” said Trent.

“Tonight our special teams did a great job in setting us up on the offensive end.”

The same could not be said for the Braves.

Maconaquah struggled all night trying to move the ball, finishing with just 145 yards of total offense. Maconaquah did manage to get on the scoreboard late.

The Braves scored on their last possession taking 8:34 to covering 75 yards on 16 plays. The march was capped off by a Jordan Calendine 3 yard run.

Even in defeat, Maconaquah coach Bob Freije still had praise for this team.

“Our kids stayed together,” said Freije. “When it came down to it, the kids played as a unit.”

Six Heights players carried the football and Beau Ely finished as the top gainer with 82 yards on four carries. Pickett finished with 69 yards on 15 carries scoring four touchdowns on runs of 17, 1, 7 and 5 yards.

The Braves were led by Josh Morgan who rushed for 51 yards on 11 carries.

        

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