By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
All Huntington coach Stephen Dennis wanted was a foot. What he got instead was a lot more than that.
The Raiders came up with that foot – and 156 more.
“Sometimes you get more than you ask for,” Dennis said.
Faced with fourth-and-a-foot at his own 48 with 1:48 to play and his team holding a tenuous three-point lead, Dennis decided it was time for his Raiders to try to put the game away.
Kam’Ron Davis’ 52-yard run did just that as Huntington defeated Captain Shreve 46-35 Thursday at Independence Stadium in the opening District 1-5A game for both teams.
“One of our coaches asked what we were going to do,” Dennis said of the decision to go for it. “And I said we are going to play to win, not to lose.”
The bulky running back duo of Davis and Nyles Hullaby accounted for a lot of yards and were trouble for Shreve the entire night. Combined numbers? 465 pounds and 358 yards.
Davis, who had 181 yards on 16 carries, may have iced it with his fourth-down run, but Hullaby’s 81-yarder on the previous series had given Huntington a 10-point lead (38-28) in a game that featured an amazing eight lead changes. On that play, the Raiders were looking for two yards so they could play keep-away from a Shreve offense that was just as effective. But his burst through the left side was part of a 177-yard night for the senior.
“They are interchangeable,” Dennis said of his running back duo. “Sometimes we put them both in the backfield.”
Both Davis and Hullaby scored two touchdowns, but Dennis didn’t hesitate when asked what he thought the story of the game was.
“The offensive line,” he said. “We knew when we went into the off-season that this group could be special. They just went to work and have answered every challenge.”
The decisive runs by Davis and Hullaby are quite telling in that hardly a fingernail was laid on either as they took off for the end zone. If there were ever a time to actually watch an offensive line go to work, this was it.
OK boys, take a bow – tackles Bryson Spencer (290) and Jaylon Glover (285), guards Phillip Hays (285) and Kevion Henry (250) and center Royuan Jackson (310).
This was a game that had a last-team-with-the-ball-wins feeling to it as the two went back and forth. When it wasn’t the combination of Davis and Hullaby for Huntington, it was Shreve running back Jamarcea Plater, who scored three touchdowns and ran for 175 yards on 19 carries.
Shreve senior quarterback Brodie Savage also had a nice game, completing 18 of 24 for 228 yards and two TDs, so offense (423 yards) wasn’t a problem for the Gators.
“We missed way too many details on defense,” Shreve coach Jeremy Wilburn said. “There was a problem not understanding what we were trying to do defensively at times, but it wasn’t anything we weren’t ready for. We just didn’t perform.”
Huntington racked up 602 yards in total offense. Quarterback Landon Gibbs threw for 155 and ran for 47.
Not only was it a nice win to open the district, but it also marked the Raiders’ return to District 1-5A after 14 years of being in 4A. This didn’t hurt the Raiders’ feelings either – Shreve had won the last four meetings against Huntington (1-1).
There were more than the usual number of post-game exchanges as Wilburn, who was an assistant at Huntington under Dennis for the last four years, stayed and had a word with many of his former players in the handshake line.
“It’s just one week,” Dennis said. “We are 1-0 for the night and now the clock resets and we’ve got to go try and be 1-0 again.”
They’ll try to do that on the road against Benton next week. Shreve (1-1) will take on Natchitoches Central at Lee Hedges Stadium.
HUNTINGTON 48, CAPTAIN SHREVE 35
H – Jamarion Washington 30 pass from Landon Gibbs (kick failed)
CS – Car’Darrian Devers 32 pass from Brodie Savage (Zane Wyss kick)
H – Nyles Hullaby 3 run (run failed)
CS – Jamarcea Plater 65 run (Wyss kick)
H – Tyler Welch 31 pass from Gibbs (Hullaby run)
CS – Plater 13 run (Wyss kick)
H – Gibbs 35 run (run failed)
CS – Plater 40 run (Wyss kick)
H – Kam’Ron Davis 17 run (pass failed)
H – Hullaby 81 run (pass failed)
CS – Justin Hall 6 run (Wyss kick)
H – Davis 52 run (Hullaby run)