Stallions Rain on the Hawks Parade
Armwood can only blame themselves for their disappointing loss to American Heritage. The Hawks played a sloppy game against a nationally ranked foe; yet, still had a chance to pull out the win with a miraculous play as time expired. If Alvin Bailey’s final pass attempt was just a little more accurate, I would have witnessed the high school equivalent to Doug Flutie’s miracle in Miami.
Armwood’s defense contained American Heritages 5 star rated star running back Greg Bryant to just 40 yards and two touchdowns on the night; however, big plays, turn-overs and penalties corroded the usually well oil machine. Bryant was untouched during his first 25 yard touchdown scamper on an apparent busted play. This was the first in a long line of crucial mistakes that plagued the usually stout Hawks defense.
Quarterback Darryl Richardson would quickly answer for the Hawks with a 22 yard touchdown scrabble of his own to tie the score. On the ensuing drive Bryant would make his biggest play of the night by catching a 52 yard bomb on third and long that seemed to suck the air out of a boisterous Armwood crowd. The Hawks offense could not get into a rhythm until late in the game and Alvin Bailey had a costly turnover right before half that would lead to another Stallion touchdown.
Coming out of half the Hawks D forced a huge three and out and Bailey redeemed himself by catching a beautiful 13 yard touchdown pass. With the score now 20-14 it seemed like the charging Hawks would be able to overwhelm the Stallions; yet, the Hawks defense gave up another huge play on the ensuing drive. Three star American Heritage quarterback Marcus Davis, is closer to 5’8 then the 5’11 he is listed at; however, he demonstrated a huge arm on a 38 yard strike to wide receiver Desmond Cain.
The Hawks offense continued to sputter on the next drive, which ended with American Heritage intercepting a pass and returning it for a touchdown. With the score 36-14 it seemed like a rout of the mighty Hawks was imminent; yet, the spirit of a champion never knows when to die. In the final minutes of the game the Hawks came to life in a scene that reminded me of Rocky Balboa constantly lurching back at a superiorly talented Apollo Creed.
Alvin Bailey, delighted Gator Nation and his coaching staff, by making an acrobatic 34 yard touchdown catch with 6 minutes left to play. After a quick 3 and out by Heritage, Armwood would score again on a 2 yard run, slashing the score to 36-28 with three minutes to play.
The Armwood defense fought like a cornered dog and ferociously forced two 3 and outs by the Stallion offense in the last 3 minutes of the game; however, the offense could not capitalize on either opportunity. Dejectedly, I feel the best team did not leave the field winners tonight. Despite all of the turmoil the Armwood Hawks are still a team with a tremendous amount of talent and if they can correct the mental mistakes it could be another year of the HAWK.
-Anthony Peace