Saturday, November 5, 2011

ELKMONT VS HANCEVILLE - ARTICLES FROM AROUND THE AREA









VIDEO:  CHANNEL 32 BIRMINGHAM (click on red link below)
Friday Night Blitz - Part 4  6:04 clip/Elkmont game at 3:10 
Comments about the game:
1. "Wow I never expected Elkmont or Rogers, for that matter, to pull off those wins! Congratulations Region 8 teams on sweeping Region 5! Some tough second round games coming up this week but we should have at least two teams in the third round. I also find it hard to believe that region was that weak for our 4 to beat their 1. How did Elkmont slow down that back for Hanceville?"

2. "One of the better high school games I have ever seen a team play. Elkmont missed zero tackles, made zero turnovers, and dropped exactly one pass. Near perfect execution. No excuses for the Bulldogs except that you can only play who you are scheduled to play. We learned pretty quick tonight that our region was not on par with Lauderdale County's. I will not be shocked if that region does not go 4-0 again this week. Elkmont was up for this game; Hanceville was not.  Hanceville faced probably the best team they have played all year tonight."
Hanceville High’s dream season quickly turned nightmarish Friday as Elkmont pulled off a 28-13 victory in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

The Red Devils (7-4) used a tried-and-true defensive gameplan — stop Diamond Simmons — but the difference was that Elkmont made it work.

Simmons, the Bulldogs (10-1) star tailback, rushed 14 times for a meager 47 yards. He had only one run that went for more than 7 yards.

“They were a better team than us, at least tonight,” Hanceville coach Danny Miller said. “They’re one of the best 6-4 teams in the state. Their four losses were to teams that were a combined 34-6.

“We told the guys that in the playoffs, if you don’t play your best, you can get beat on any given night.”

Elkmont has lost to Rogers, Lauderdale County, Sheffield and Fort Payne.

While the Red Devils defense was holding the vaunted Bulldogs running game down, Elkmont was doing some running of its own as quarterback Hayden Huseth and running back Daniel Logan ran for a total of 241 yards, mainly off the option.

Logan rushed 17 times for 124 yards and Huseth had 117 yards on 20 carries.

“That was an option read play,” Red Devils coach Sean Holt said. “The quarterback read the defender and decided whether to hand it off or keep it. We’ve used the option, in several different formations, all year.

“We just did what we’re used to doing on offense.”

After Elkmont forced a Hanceville three-and-out on the game’s opening series, the Red Devils went down the field, capping a 13-play, 73-yard drive with a 13-yard run by Huseth with 5:03 left in the first quarter. Jose Hernandez booted all four extra points for Elkmont.

That score held until Simmons caught a 44-yard Broc Malcom touchdown pass with 9:36 remaining in the half. Sheldon Lewis’ PAT tied the score.

It didn’t take Elkmont long to respond, however. With 4:37 left in the half, Huseth scored again, this time from 24 yards out, sending his team into halftime with a 14-7 cushion.

The Red Devils needed only five plays to extend the lead at the start of the third quarter as Huseth notched his third touchdown, a 14-yarder.

The Bulldogs got it back to a one-possession game on their next possession, as Malcom went in from the 1, but Skyler Gant blocked the extra point attempt.

Hanceville had the ball again starting the fourth quarter but soon had to punt. The ensuing possession proved to be the final nail in the Bulldogs’ season as Logan scored on a 2-yard run with 4:08 left.

“They hit us in the mouth and we didn’t respond,” Miller said. “Between their defense and their running game, they just flat-out beat us.
 


"Hanceville hosted the first round of the State Playoffs tonight but ran into a very physical Elkmont team bent on ending the Bulldog's season. They felled the Bulldogs 28-13.  Hanceville won the toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game but a quick three and out forced the Bulldogs to punt, giving Elkmont the ball on their own 26 yard line.  Elkmont started a 13 play drive, led by Hayden Huseth, Edwin Glass and Daniel Logan. Huseth would carry the ball across the goal line and give Elkmont the first lead of the night at 7-0.

Hanceville would start a drive of their own before a catch and then immediate hit would dislodge the ball from a Hanceville receiver to be recovered by Jared 

Elkmont put together another lengthy drive on their next possession going 11 plays and 76 yards, 33 of which were in the air, before Huseth scored on a 24 yard quarterback keeper. This gave Elkmont the lead at 14-7 and they would not give it away.


Possessions were traded at the close of the 2nd quarter with neither team scoring. Huseth scored his third touchdown on the opening possession of the 3rd quarter for the Red Devils capping a 5 play, 70 yard drive.  Hanceville would answer with a score of their own with Broc Malcom carrying the ball in from 1 yard out on fourth and goal which completed 13 plays, 71 yard drive. The PAT was blocked and the score would stand 21-13 Elkmont.




The score would remain 21-13 until the 4:08 mark of the 4th quarter when Daniel Logan ran it in from 2 yards out to end the scoring on the night and make it 28-13, which would be the final.  Hanceville mounted a drive until a fumble on 4th and 1 ended the chance for a comeback and allowed Elkmont to take a knee on two consecutive plays to end the ballgame.


As always, after the game, both teams gained in a post-game prayer after the handshakes in a wonderful display of sportsmanship that is absent in so many aspects of sports nowadays."


Source: Cullman Sense

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