Anyone that doubts the impact, Strawberry Crest first year head coach, John Kelly has made on the program needs to examine the Chargers Friday night shoot out loss to Hillsborough High School. The Chargers took a team that had devastated them the previous year down to the wire losing by the score of 32-24 in what had to be one of the most exciting games of this young football season.
Hillsborough started the game in dominant fashion with an impressive 5 play scoring drive. Jordan Sherit demonstrated great hands on two beautiful catches from quarterback Dwayne Lawson and running back Nigel Harris capped the drive with a 40 yard touchdown run. You could tell from the Strawberry Crest fans expressions that they were terrified that Hillsborough would run all over their program for a second straight year. However, there was no panic from the Strawberry Crest sideline.
Sophomore quarterback, Tristan Hyde executed a thirteen play drive for the Chargers that ended with a Karel Hamilton touchdown. Hillsborough fumbled the ball during the next drive allowing Hyde to throw another quick touchdown pass to Alex Carswell. This gave the Chargers there only lead of the night with the score being 12 to 8.
Nigel Harris would rumble through Strawberry Crest defenders for a 46 yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive and Hillsborough would reclaim the lead 16-12. Harris would score again from short yardage after a Strawberry Crest fumble making the score 24-12. The Chargers answered with a score of their own right before half with a touchdown reception by Colby Williams making the score 30-18.
Constant rainfall in the third quarter led to numerous turnovers for both teams. The defensive play during the quarter was also very stout. Hillsborough senior defensive end Jordan Sherit was constantly in the Crest backfield and had several sacks on the night. The Chargers defense was led by senior linebacker Andrew Zuluaga, who seemed to be in on every tackle. Hillsborough was able to increase their lead with a blocked punt for a safety at the end of the quarter.
Trailing by two touchdowns late in the game, the Chargers needed a spark and the Hyde to Hyde connection provided just that. Tristan Hyde connected to his brother, Josh Hyde on consecutive plays for the Chargers. Extending a crucial drive that ended with another Alex Carswell touchdown reception. The Chargers would mount another impressive drive into Hillsborough territory with five minutes left to play but came short on a fake field goal attempt. The final score would be 32 to 24 in the Terries favor.
Hillsborough looks like a team that could seriously challenge Armwood for the district championship. They are loaded with D-1 talent on both sides of the ball. Dwayne Lawson is a very impressive and physically imposing sophomore quarterback that will only get better for Terries as the season progresses. At the same time it looks like Strawberry Crest might be able to achieve the first winning season in program history. John Kelly has made great strides with this young Charger team and has them believing they can win every game.
– Anthony Peace