One of the most-anticipated games of the season kicked off at Scott Braswell Stadium Friday night as the Hoggard Vikings put together a complete performance and held off a late comeback attempt to pull out a 25-15 win over New Hanover.
“This game is always going to be close and hard fought by both teams and tonight was no different,” said Hoggard assistant coach Craig Underwood. “All I can say is that we have great kids, a great coaching staff and we all just continued to work throughout the game.
“It’s a great win for our program and all the seniors that have put so much time in over the last four years. Keevin had a huge performance. He pushed hard to gain some extra yards and our offensive line did a great job of keeping their feet churning and they deserve a lot of credit as well.”
Keevin Thompson rushed for three touchdowns in the first half as the senior running back finished with more than 200 yards on the ground. The senior running back also surpassed the 1,000-yard mark and raised his touchdown total to 16 in six games this season.
“It’s a great feeling to get it over New Hanover and such a great rivalry,” said Thompson. “It was just about gutting it up tonight. Our offensive line did a great job and it was just about getting first downs late in the game with the lead.
“We worked too hard to be tired and it’s great to be able to pass this win on to the younger guys who will be playing in this rivalry next year.”
The Vikings used 13 snaps to take a 22-0 lead in the first quarter as Thompson finished off two six play drives with trips to the end zone, while a fumble deep in New Hanover territory turned into a score on a Thompson one yard dive.
Following a New Hanover punt on its first possession of the second quarter Hoggard marched down field on a 14-play drive, which included a big fourth-down conversion as Austin Shoenleber hit Harrison Smith on an eight yard hitch for the first down. Caleb Kuhne eventually split the uprights on a 32 yard field goal with 4:24 to go in the half.
It took New Hanover until the second half to get moving offensively after the Vikings fumbled away the opening possession of the third quarter, but Hoggard’s defense proved its might early with three forced fumbles and three sacks in the opening 24 minutes of action.
Julius Reynolds, Will Dykes and Yeremiya Andrews were all able to get to quarterback Ward Coleman as the Wildcats earned just 87 total yards at the break.
“Our defense has done an outstanding job all season long,” said Underwood. “Led by those three core seniors in Julius Reynolds, Robert Pigford and Hashim Michel, they set the tone for our whole defense and they did the same tonight.”
Trailing by 25, Ronnie Beatty picked up a fumble recovery for New Hanover and the Wildcats answered with its first score of the game seven plays later on a one yard run by Jeavonne Batts. Coleman hit Garrett Walston for the two-point conversion.
“I’m proud of the guys and the way we battled back tonight,” said New Hanover Coach Kevin Motsinger. “We’ve been banged up with injuries and people can say what they want, but our kids fought hard tonight to get back into the game in the second half.
“Ninety-nine percent of all teams would have rolled up and died and our kids fought back and gave it all they had. We have a chance to be real special once we get some guys back and with some of our younger guys getting some good experience in a game like tonight, we have a chance to get this thing going in the right direction.”
The Wildcats committed to stopping the run in the second half, but Shoenleber hooked up with his favorite receiver in Smith multiple times throughout the third quarter to keep the chains moving.
New Hanover eventually forced Hoggard to punt for the first time all game late in the third stanza and moved the ball into Vikings’ territory on a third down conversion as Coleman scrambled out of the pocket and connected with Walston.
Batts scored seven plays later from one yard out to make it a 10-point game with just under 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but Andrews and Dykes combined for a big sack on a third and long to end New Hanover’s comeback attempt.
“These are the top two teams in the conference and the problem with playing Hoggard first in conference is that the best two teams played at Scott Braswell Stadium tonight,” said Motsinger. “If we continue to get better we have chance to make some noise.”
Hoggard (2-0, 6-0) enjoys the week off at 6-0 overall heading into the bye and a road game against Ashley on Friday, Oct. 17. After wrapping up a three-game road trip New Hanover (0-1, 2-4) looks to bounce back Friday, Oct. 10, at home against Ashley.
Box score
New Hanover 0-0-8-7=15
Hoggard 22-3-0-0=25
Scoring summary
First quarter
Hoggard- Keevin Thompson, 1 yard run, (PAT, Kuhne) 5:01
Hoggard- Keevin Thompson, 1 yard run, (2-point, Hinton Carter pass to Hunter Louthan) 4:23
Hoggard- Keevin Thompson, 3 yard run, (PAT, Kuhne) :07
Second quarter
Hoggard- Caleb Kuhne, 32 yard field goal, 4:24
Third quarter
New Hanover- Jeavonne Batts, 1 yard run, (2-point, Coleman pass to Walston) 6:33
Fourth quarter
New Hanover- Jeavonne Batts, 1 yard run, (PAT, Honeycutt) 10:58
