By Dave Helmick
TuckerCountySports.Com
LOST CREEK – The Mt. Lions Football team traveled to South Harrison for a matchup between two playoff teams in the last game of the regular season. The Hawks built a lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they handed the Mt. Lions their first loss of the season by the score of 44-22.
South Harrison got the ball to start the game and their offense went to work. The Hawks would march the ball 75 yards down the field on 10 plays. All 10 plays for the Hawks were rushing plays and the drive was capped by a 2 yard touchdown run. The 2 point conversion was good to make the score 8-0 South Harrison with 7:39 left in the first quarter. The Hawks defense would hold the Mt. Lions and the South Harrison offense went to work again. This time the homestanding Hawks would score on a 5 yard touchdown run with 1:13 left in the first. The PAT was good to put the score to 16-0 South Harrison after one quarter of play.
The second quarter would not get better for Tucker County as South Harrison would capitalize on a Mt. Lions turnover as they added to their lead on a 1 yard touchdown. The 2 point conversion was good again to give South Harrison a 24-0 lead with 10:41 left in the second quarter. The Mt. Lions would then get on the scoreboard on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Ethan Rosenau to Maddox Anderson. The 2 point conversion failed to make the score 24-6 South Harrison with 5:14 left in the second. The Hawks then drove the ball down the field to score once again on a 12 yard touchdown run with 2:23 left in the second quarter. The PAT conversion was no good to put the score to 30-6 South Harrison. Tucker County then drove the ball quickly down the field at the end of the first half, but an interception by the Hawks ended the Mt. Lions change to score. The second quarter ended with the score 30-6 South Harrison.
Tucker County received the kick to start the third quarter, but a fumble on the kick return was recovered by the Hawks at the Mt. Lions 35 yard line. South Harrison would turn the Tucker County turnover into points 7 plays later on an 8 yard touchdown run. The PAT conversion was good to make the score 38-6 South Harrison with 8:38 left in the third quarter. The Mt. Lions then scored in the third quarter on a 6 yard touchdown run by Jared Reall with 1:29 left in the third. The 2 point conversion was good on a Rosenau pass to Anderson to make the score 38-14 Hawks at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter South Harrison would score on a 23 yard touchdown pass with 9:11 left in the game to make the score 44-14 Hawks. The Mt. Lions also got a score in the fourth as Rosenau connected with Anderson on a 31 yard touchdown pass with 8:10 left in the fourth. The PAT conversion was good on a Reall run to put the score to 44-22 South Harrison. The Hawks then possessed the ball the rest of the quarter as they drove the ball down inside the Tucker County 5 yard line. South Harrison then went victory formation to run out the clock and preserve the win over Tucker County by the final score of 44-22.
Tucker County was led on offense by Ethan Rosenau with 19 of 28 passing for 313 yards and Maddox Anderson led the team in receiving with 10 catches for 213 yards. Racer Channel had 3 receptions for 28 yards for Tucker County. Jared Reall grabbed 2 catches for 25 yards receiving and Levi Bennet had 2 receptions for 24 yards receiving. Reall led Tucker County on defense with 14 tackles and Dom Mullenax added 4 tackles for the Mt. Lions in the loss. South Harrison outgained Tucker County in total yards 377-333.
Tucker County(9-1) qualified for the Playoffs and earned a #7 seed. The Mt. Lions will host the first round playoff game against #10 East Hardy this Friday November 11th at 7:30pm. Tucker County defeated East Hardy on September 9th by the score of 14-13 in the regular season. For more info go to TuckerCountySports.Com.