Hickory ends Rockets' perfect year
SLIPPERY ROCK — There were a few tears and a few heads hung in disappointment.
Brendan Hathaway's wasn't one of them.
The Slippery Rock High football coach simply shrugged his shoulder and doffed his hat to the Hickory football team, which made several big plays on the way to a 35-27 win over the Rockets in the District 10 Class AA semifinals at Slippery Rock University Saturday night.
“Hey, I just told the guys this wasn't a lack of will, this wasn't a lack of character, this wasn't a lack of commitment,” Hathaway said. “I'm so proud of these seniors. They've done everything we've asked them to do.”
Slippery Rock (11-1) rushed for 366 yards — almost as many yards as Hickory had total (378) — but it wasn't enough to overcome a poised freshman quarterback and a shifty, strong sophomore running back for the Hornets.
Luke Brennon was 13-of-22 passing for 195 yards and a touchdown and Chuck Carr rumbled his way for 141 yards on 28 carries for Hickory (9-2).
Those two played key roles in two of the biggest plays of the game that secured the victory for Hickory, one that avenged a loss earlier in the season to Slippery Rock.
Brennan found Andrew Pryts, who split two Slippery Rock defensive backs, down the middle of the field for a 58-yard score late in the third quarter that gave Hickory a 28-20 lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Carr broke several tackles near the line of scrimmage, squirted free and ran 59 yards for a touchdown that gave the Hornets a 35-20 lead.
“Against great players like that, you have to stop the big play,” Hathaway said.
Slippery Rock also had its fair share of big plays.
A 65-yard run by Trent Porter set up the first score of the game, a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by quarterback Jake Whitmer.
After Hickory got short TD runs by Carr and Derloni, Whitmer executed a perfect fake and ran 68 yards untouched for a score to send the game into the half tied 14-14.
Travis Lauster added his own long touchdown run of 48 yards in the third quarter, and after a missed extra point, Slippery Rock was down 21-20.“I told the team, 'We must tackle and take good care of the football,'” said Hickory coach Bill Brest. “We took good care of the football, but we missed a few tackles.”Slippery Rock didn't take as good care of the football.The Rockets lost two fumbles, the second one inside Hickory territory in the second half.In the first meeting in September, Hickory committed four turnovers in a 14-7 loss.“Turnovers were the difference in the first game. Turnovers were the difference in the second game,” Hathaway said. “Whenever you have two pretty good ball-teams, that's usually what it comes down to.”It also came down to balance.Hickory found that at mid-season with Brennan, who has now led the Hornets to the district title game against Greenville this weekend.“We knew that Luke could throw the ball,” Brest said. “We have faith in him. He's grown up so much throughout the season. He wasn't ready at the beginning of the year. He showed (Saturday night) that he definitely earned that starting position.”Slippery Rock didn't throw its first pass until late in the fourth quarter, even staying on the ground on a 7-play, 76-yard drive that was aided by two 15-yard penalties by Hickory that used just two minutes off the clock and closed the gap to 35-27.Slippery Rock got the ball back late with a chance to drive for the tying touchdown and conversion, but a fourth-and-long pass fell incomplete.Hickory had landed just one more punch than Slippery Rock.“That's the way we knew it was going to be,” Hathaway said. “It's tough to swallow, but this was what high school football is all about, this type of game.”Hickory 35, Slippery Rock 27Hickory 7 7 14 7 — 35Slippery Rock 7 7 6 7 — 27H SR10 First Downs 1537-143 Rushes-Yards 47-366195 Passing Yards 3713-23-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 1-3-0378 Total Yards 4030-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-26-65 Penalty Yards 2-14First QuarterSR — Jake Whitmer 1 run (Mark Cessar kick), 6:12H — Chuck Carr 2 run (Jordan Wombacher kick), 1:40Second QuarterH — Lou Derloni 1 run (Wombacher kick), 9:57SR — Whitmer 68 run (Cessar kick), 8:35Third QuarterH — Derloni 3 run (Wombacher kick), 6:58SR — Travis Lauster 48 run (Kick failed), 4:06H — Andrew Pryts 58 pass from Luke Brennan (Wombacher kick), 2:00Fourth QuarterH — Carr 59 run (Wombacher kick), 5:45SR — Whitmer 2 run (Cessar kick), 3:32Individual StatisticsRushing: Hickory, Chuck Carr 28-141, Andrew Pryts 1-8, Lou Derloni 2-4, Luke Brennan 6-(-10). Slippery Rock, Trent Porter 21-174, Travis Lauster 10-88, Jake Whitmer 10-79, Ryan Lauster 6-25.Passing: Hickory, Luke Brennan 13-22-195-0, Andrew Pryts 0-1-0-0. Slippery Rock, Jake Whitmer 1-3-37-0.Receiving: Hickory, Andrew Pryts 5-118, Joey DeJulia 4-39, Chuck Carr 2-7, Noah Bianco 1-16, Zach Cirillo 1-15. Slippery Rock, Travis Lauster 1-37.
