Huskies head to Buckeye Trail looking for 2-0 start
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LORE CITY -- Harrison Central's big season-opening triumph against Claymont was a shining bright spot in what was a disheartening week for the Huskies community.
What began with promise turned to shock and sadness when Husky nation learned of the untimely death of one of its own in Zane Carson.
It was a rough week for the players, the coaches, the students, and community at large, but through it all, the Huskies managed to persevere. For one night, some positivity was injected into a difficult week.
"Anybody who ever questions that sports are important to developing a well-rounded person and the significance that it plays in each of our lives, it was clear to see that on Friday," Harrison Central head coach Anthony Hayes said. "It gave us an opportunity as a community and families and friends to take a breath and enjoy one another's company and watch our young people.
"It was a difficult week for our community, for the Carson family, and our student athletes to endure all that and still prepare all week long and go out and play a game. It was difficult, but the community did its best job with offering as many services as it could while also trying to provide some semblance of normalcy."
Harrison gave a masterful performance on the field in the 36-19 win, with senior QB Hayden Cassidy throwing for 253 yards and two scores. Junior Mykel Quito rushed for two touchdowns and totaled three sacks on defense.
Parker Hutton had 156 yards receiving and a touchdown and junior Cam McAfee had 48 to go with taking a kickoff return to the house.
"We did a lot of really good things," Hayes said. "But we also did some things that weren't very good and we're going to work on those areas in practice.
"A we move forward, one of the biggest things is we played extremely well defensively and gave up maybe 30-40 yards rushing. The defensive staff is doing a great job getting our guys prepared."
Next up is a clash with Buckeye Trail on Friday.
The Warriors are coming off a 39-26 shootout with Caldwell at the Noble County Fairgrounds.
Trail broke in its new quarterback in Braden Williams, but Williams has the benefit of a big, physical offensive line and one of the more explosive weapons in the Ohio Valley in running back/receiver Koen Eagon.
Eagon ran for 102 yards, including a 28-yard scoring scamper while adding a 90-yard kickoff return for six.
Hayes knows what to expect with this Buckeye Trail team and what he's expecting is a battle.
"It's a typical Trail team," Hayes said. "They are very physical. They have a real nice fullback in Charlie Parry who is also there linebacker and is a physical kid, plus you have Eagon on the outside.
"I'm not sure if he runs track, but he's football fast. He's electric and can put six points on the board real fast for them. They are well-coached, physical, good-sized kids and employ an attacking-style defense and I suspect they'll want to establish the run."
One area of concern for Trail's coaching staff likely lies with the Huskies passing game. Against Caldwell, Redskins' quarterback Cale Bender victimized the Trail defense to the tune of 311 passing yards and three TDs in eclipsing the 3,000-yard-mark for his career.
Fortunately, the Huskies' offensive attack isn't just limited to Hutton or McAfee catching passes from Cassidy. Harrison's senior signalcaller likes to spread the wealth and some younger guys are stepping up.
"I think we had eight or nine skill guys that had at least one reception," Hayes said. "I know we had three different running backs carry the ball.
"We knew Claymont would stack the box to take away the run and we did a good job of distributing it to the outside."