Fast start pushes Hornets past Pittsville
The Colby Hornets bounced back from their first loss of the season by grabbing a road victory over the Pittsville Panthers last Friday. Five first half touchdowns and over 400 yards on the ground propelled the visiting Hornets to a 43-16 win over their Marawood foes.
“I thought our players came out and played with confidence and focus and they were physical right from the start,” head coach Jim Hagen said. “After a tough loss from the week before, you just never know how players are going to respond but they proved on the first play from scrimmage that they were ready.”
On that first play, the Hornets sealed off the right edge of their line to make way for running back Gavin Voss, who broke a tackle and then won a foot race against the remaining Pittsville defenders to score a 65-yard touchdown for the visitors.
The early touchdown by the Hornets and then the subsequent drive from the Panthers set the tone for the rest of the contest. On offense, Colby averaged 11.7 per rushing attempt, including 327 yards in the first half. Meanwhile, the defense held Pittsville to just 53 total yards in the opening two quarters.
Nineteen of those yards gained on the opening play for Pittsville, a run from Dalton Darr that helped to push the drive into Hornets territory. However, the Panthers would not progress much farther than midfield. Facing a thirdand- one situation, the Colby defense held for two straight plays to force a turnover on downs.
Taking over at their own 44-yard line, the Hornets moved the ball with relative ease down the field. They faced just a single third down on the 56-yard scoring drive and took a 14-0 advantage following Voss’ second score of the evening and the extra point from Bryan Camargo.
On their second drive of the evening, the Panthers were once again just able to inch into Colby territory before the Hornets defense closed the door. Two incompletions forced the Panthers to punt the ball away.
A 22-yard run courtesy of Brody Viegut helped move the Hornets towards midfield on the next drive. A 32-yard gain from Voss on the following play pushed Colby past the 30-yard line of Pittsville. Four plays later, Voss was back in the end zone, scoring his third touchdown of the game on the first play of the second quarter.
A three-and-out, a Hornet fumble, and a failed fake punt attempt from the Panthers ended the three possessions after the score, giving Colby the ball at their 46-yard line with just under eight minutes left in the half. Tayt Smith moved the visitors into Pittsville territory with a 22-yard run on the second play of the drive. A 16-yard run from Viegut moved the Hornets into the red zone and Brennan Geiger finished it off with a fouryard touchdown run. Smith scored on the two-point conversion, giving the Hornets a 28-0 lead.
Braxton Meyer sacked Pittsville quarterback Jacob Hardinger for a sevenyard loss on third-and-11 to end another Panther drive and give the offense excellent field position for their final possession of the half. While it looked like the Hornets wouldn’t be able to take advantage, it was Colby’s turn to pull a play out of their bag of tricks. Facing a fourth-and-five from about midfield, the Hornets came out in formation to punt the ball away. But Voss kept the ball instead of kicking it downfield and found plenty of running room, taking it all the way to the Panthers’ five yard line before being dragged down. Viegut finished the job on the next play, eluding several Pittsville defenders to find the end zone and put Colby up 35-0, a lead they would hold heading into halftime.
The Panthers were not quite finished yet, however, taking just two plays to score on their first drive of the second half. Colby answered right back with a few big plays of their own; Smith churning out a first down on a 15-yard run and then scoring on a 54-yard scamper to make the score 43-8.
Penalties killed the Panthers next drive and the Hornets once again drove into the red zone. Another lost fumble cut the drive short and while Pittsville were able to score on the next possession, the running clock meant that the 85-yard march down to the opposite end zone took eight minutes. Colby was able to run the remaining four minutes off the clock and walk away with the victory.
Voss finished the game with 166 yards on just eight carries, three of which went for touchdowns. Smith had 122 yards on seven carries for a touchdown, Geiger had 77 yards and a touchdown and Viegut had 44 yards and a touchdown. Devon Meyer added 10 yards on three carries in clean up duty.
The Hornets could not get much going through the air, with all three of Smith’s pass attempts falling incomplete.
On defense, Viegut, Voss and Tanner Halopka all had six tackles to co-lead the team in the category. Meyer had the sole sack for Colby.
Colby will have their Homecoming game this Friday, Sept. 29, against Marathon. The Red Raiders hold a 3-3 record this season, though they are 0-2 in the Marawood thus far and will be coming off a 44-29 defeat to Auburndale last week. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.
