Homecoming victory for Huskies
Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer
CADIZ — A night of celebration and ceremony came to a close with senior Ava Carson wearing the Queen’s crown, and the Huskies dancing their way into a convincing 32-6 triumph over the visiting Indian Creek Redskins last Friday night at Wagner Field in Cadiz.
Senior two-way lineman Hunter Boals was crowned the Homecoming King before kickoff.
“This was a good win for our team coming off of a tough loss last week, where we had several guys get banged up. I thought our kids came in focused and physical,” stated Head Coach Anthony Hayes.
The Huskies (5-2) defense pitched a shutout through the first 35 minutes and 23 seconds of the contest, opening up a theoretical highway for Mykel Quito and the offense to drive through free of charge for most of the evening. As the main wheelman, Quito ran up 216-yards rushing and three touchdowns on 24 carries. The big night brought his season totals to 832 marks on the ground and 13 touchdowns. He’s averaging 6.7 yards a carry through the first seven games.
“We had several young guys step in and do a good job. Our older guys played like we expected them to. Indian Creek was determined to double Cam (McAfee) the whole game, so he did what he always does and gave other guys a chance to make plays. He is a very unselfish player who only cares about winning. Cam does so many things that don’t show up in the offensive stat category, but I assure you that a heck of a lot of our offensive production is because of him,” Hayes explained.
The unspoken offensive piece so-to-speak in McAfee, did fill some columns on the defensive side of the ball, with three tackles and five assists. As a whole, the defensive unit turned in a stellar effort. A notion that the Head Coach made sure to point out in the postgame.
“We held them to one score. They did gain some yards but yards don’t win games, points do. We kept them out of the endzone all but one time and that’s what matters.” Harrison’s defense hawked two turnovers- one interception (Hayden Cassidy) and one fumble recovery (Landen Thomas).
The Huskies led 19-0 at the halftime break, a lead that grew to 32-6 by the end of the third quarter. While Quito had a huge night in the ground game, that doesn’t mean the Huskies didn’t toss the rock. Senior quarterback Hayden Cassidy finished six of 12 passing, with 123 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow senior Parker Hutton was the favorite target. He caught four passes for 94 yards, accounting for both of Cassidy’s touchdown passes (20 yards, 59 yards).
As the season pushes into week eight, the Huskies have already locked up a playoff spot come week 11. So, for the fourth straight year, the Huskies will be in the postseason, but where they play and who they play will be decided over the next three weeks.
That all starts with a two-hour trip to Waterford this weekend. “We will continue to get some guys healed up during practice this week, and we expect everyone to be ready to go as we face a physical Waterford team,” Hayes stated in anticipation of this weekend’s game.
Currently, the Huskies remain in fourth place in the Ohio Div. V Region 17 playoff rankings. Perry, South Range, and Norwayne round out the top three. Two of those three teams should ring a bell, as the Huskies met South Range in the 2020 postseason, and travelled to Norwayne last year in the opening round of the playoffs.
Last weekend’s victory over Indian Creek knotted the all-time series between the two schools at an even 7-7.
