Hornets hold off late push by Pittsville

The Colby football team improved to 6-0 on the season after defeating Pittsville last Friday night. The Panthers did not go down easily, but the Hornets managed just enough offense to claim the homecoming victory, 21-6.

Colby’s defense once again shone, holding Pittsville to negative yardage on the ground for the entire evening and forcing two turnovers. The offense, meanwhile, struggled at times against a solid Panthers’ front, especially in the second half, but managed to put together enough drives that their hold over the game was never truly in jeopardy.

That being said, there was a moment in the game where the Hornets’ lead was not as secure as they may have liked. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Panthers were starting to move the ball against Colby’s otherwise stalwart defense. Emboldened by their most successful drive of the evening on their previous possession, Pittsville had once again managed to move the ball into Colby territory, though the Hornets had forced the visitors into a fourth down situation.

Pittsville, needing four yards on the play, decided to go through the air. Panthers’ quarterback Jacob Hardinger scrambled from the pocket, his two receivers nearly colliding on their crossing routes and giving him no opportunity to throw. Gavin Voss and Caden Healy forced the issue, but Hardinger managed to flip the ball out to his receiver Kaden Schiller before being tackled. Nathaniel Robida slipped around Schiller to get his hands on the ball and both came down with it around the first down marker.

The play was ruled a simultaneous catch, which gives possession to the receiver. However, it had been fourth down, so Pittsville still needed to have gotten past the Hornets’ 39 yard line to get the first down. Because of the confusion after the play, none of the referees actually spotted the ball after Schiller and Robida were untangled and the ball was moved backward by Colby, much to the dismay of both the Panthers’ players and their fans. The ball was placed once more, though an exact spot had not been taken earlier, and a measurement afterwards gave Pittsville the first down. A very late flag came in as play was about to resume, tacking on an additional fifteen yards for an unsportsmanlike penalty on Colby for having moved the ball.

Coming up to the line with a new set of downs deep in Hornet territory, the Panthers seemed poised to get themselves within a score of the home team. The call on the previous play appeared to fire up a Colby team that had fallen into a bit of a lull, however, and on first down Healy and Voss burst through the Pittsville line to once again put pressure on Hardinger as he dropped back to pass. This time, there was nowhere for Hardinger to go with the ball and the pair of Hornet defensemen wrangled the quarterback to the ground for an 11 yard loss. Colby’s defense used the sack to their advantage, holding tough and forcing three incompletions to end the Panther threat.

This all came after three quarters of fairly dominant play from Colby. The defense only allowed one first down in the first half and the offense, while per­Colby-Abby

points gave them fourth.

The co-op’s lead runner, Max Adams, broke the 18-minute mark for the first time of his career Thursday. Sticking around the front once he managed to break out of the crowded starting pack, Adams came into the final mile in fourth. Over that final stretch, the junior managed to pass Marshfield’s Owen Hoerneman and Owen-Withee’s Colton Paczkowski to come out of the woods in second place. Adams kept that lead over the final stretch and finished with personal best finishes both in placement and time. His time of 17:49.6 was second only to Columbus Catholic’s Isaac Scheer’s 17:16.4.

Matthew Sprotte, Jack Schindler, Jack Sheahan and Joseph Streveler also had personal bests set at Spencer. Sprotte, who finished second for the co-op and 15th overall, came in with a final time of 19:00.4. Schindler took 25th, Sheahan 37th, and Streveler 41st, with new PRs of 19:46.6, 20:59.5, and 21:23.4 respectively.

Braylon Schoelzel had a seasonal best time of 19.41.8 to place 24th and Carter Roth took 28th, crossing the finishing line in 20:16.6.

Both teams are set to make a trip to Athens this coming Thursday, September 29th. The meet is to start at 4:00 p.m.