34°FOOTBALL: Huron turns tide after tide of turnovers in first half
12:12 AM
Oct 03
2009
Oct 03
2009
It’s never a bad idea to steal a strategy from Vince Lombardi’s playbook, and that’s exactly what Huron coach Tony Legando did Friday just before halftime in the Tiger’s 35-19 win over St. Mary Central Catholic.
Huron scored with 35 seconds left in the first half on a Derek Dowell 12-yard touchdown run to take the lead, 18-13, and kicked off to the Panthers’ Jacob Green, who returned the ball only to the 13-yard line. St. Mary intended on kneeling and going to the locker room, but Huron (3-3, 1-2) had other plans — and all its timeouts.
Instead of letting the clock run, Legando called three straight timeouts, forcing the Panthers (1-5, 0-3) to punt from their own end zone. Zeb Kromer got off a high, short kick, which was fair caught at the SMCC 26.
Then Legando’s football savvy took over as he implemented a play rarely ever seen at any level of football.
“When the other team is punting you have the right to fair catch and take a free kick from there,” Legando said. “Nobody ever tries it — it was just the perfect situation.
“Believe this or not, we practice it every week. I usually look at my special teams coordinator and roll my eyes like, ‘When is this every going to occur?’”
Huron kicker Nico Samaniego squared up and let it fly through the uprights with two seconds left for a 21-13 halftime lead. The kick gave Huron’s offense flexibility in the second half by extending the lead to eight points.
“The only other time I’ve heard of it was in a Green Bay Packer game,” Legando said. “Vince Lombardi was coaching... You never think that’s going to occur. It looks kind of crazy.”
The free kick was a positive end to an otherwise disappointing first half for the Tigers. Four lost fumbles gave St. Mary very good field position all half, while eliminating Huron scoring chances.
The Tigers fumbled away their first two possessions — both in SMCC territory — as well as their fourth, setting up St. Mary’s first score. Jake Hillman’s 32-yard punt return was all for nothing as he fumbled the ball away at the Panthers’ 37.
SMCC went 11 plays in 4:33 and scored on a 1-yard keeper by Kromer for a 7-6 lead with 9:13 left in the second quarter. The drive stayed alive thanks to three Huron penalties for 27 yards.
“You can’t give the ball up three times in one quarter and have that many penalties and have 21 points in the first half,” Legando said. “It’s crazy. We can’t play football like that and continue to win.”
Huron took the lead back on a 62-yard pass from Brian Bollenbacher almost five minutes later but surrendered it right back, allowing Kromer to return the ensuing kickoff back to the Tigers’ 22.
Five plays later, Kromer reached over the goal line on an 8-yard run to go up 13-12 with 1:25 left.
That final 1:25 swayed all the momentum back to Huron.
“Our kids played with effort,” St. Mary coach Jason Ziegler said. “That’s what we asked them to do all week.
“Teams like Huron, you watch them on defense and they do a great job of swarming to the football. ...We show (our players) how they do that. I think our kids did.”
Coming out of the break, Huron forced four straight St. Mary three-and-outs while putting together long scoring drives of its own. A nine-play drive was capped by a six-yard touchdown run from Dowell, giving the Tigers a 28-13 lead with 3:46 left in the third.
Huron scored again on its next drive on four plays with an 18-yard touchdown run from Justin Hicks, making the score 35-13 with 1:25 left in the third.
St. Mary scored with time winding down in the fourth quarter on a Kromer touchdown run.
Legando insisted that he didn’t believe last week’s overtime loss played a factor in his team’s first-half troubles.
“I know there are a lot of people who believe in that,” he said. “In football, you’ve got to battle emotion. Every five minutes there’s a swing of emotion. I just don’t believe that would cause that much damage.”
Huron scored with 35 seconds left in the first half on a Derek Dowell 12-yard touchdown run to take the lead, 18-13, and kicked off to the Panthers’ Jacob Green, who returned the ball only to the 13-yard line. St. Mary intended on kneeling and going to the locker room, but Huron (3-3, 1-2) had other plans — and all its timeouts.
Instead of letting the clock run, Legando called three straight timeouts, forcing the Panthers (1-5, 0-3) to punt from their own end zone. Zeb Kromer got off a high, short kick, which was fair caught at the SMCC 26.
Then Legando’s football savvy took over as he implemented a play rarely ever seen at any level of football.
“When the other team is punting you have the right to fair catch and take a free kick from there,” Legando said. “Nobody ever tries it — it was just the perfect situation.
“Believe this or not, we practice it every week. I usually look at my special teams coordinator and roll my eyes like, ‘When is this every going to occur?’”
Huron kicker Nico Samaniego squared up and let it fly through the uprights with two seconds left for a 21-13 halftime lead. The kick gave Huron’s offense flexibility in the second half by extending the lead to eight points.
“The only other time I’ve heard of it was in a Green Bay Packer game,” Legando said. “Vince Lombardi was coaching... You never think that’s going to occur. It looks kind of crazy.”
The free kick was a positive end to an otherwise disappointing first half for the Tigers. Four lost fumbles gave St. Mary very good field position all half, while eliminating Huron scoring chances.
The Tigers fumbled away their first two possessions — both in SMCC territory — as well as their fourth, setting up St. Mary’s first score. Jake Hillman’s 32-yard punt return was all for nothing as he fumbled the ball away at the Panthers’ 37.
SMCC went 11 plays in 4:33 and scored on a 1-yard keeper by Kromer for a 7-6 lead with 9:13 left in the second quarter. The drive stayed alive thanks to three Huron penalties for 27 yards.
“You can’t give the ball up three times in one quarter and have that many penalties and have 21 points in the first half,” Legando said. “It’s crazy. We can’t play football like that and continue to win.”
Huron took the lead back on a 62-yard pass from Brian Bollenbacher almost five minutes later but surrendered it right back, allowing Kromer to return the ensuing kickoff back to the Tigers’ 22.
Five plays later, Kromer reached over the goal line on an 8-yard run to go up 13-12 with 1:25 left.
That final 1:25 swayed all the momentum back to Huron.
“Our kids played with effort,” St. Mary coach Jason Ziegler said. “That’s what we asked them to do all week.
“Teams like Huron, you watch them on defense and they do a great job of swarming to the football. ...We show (our players) how they do that. I think our kids did.”
Coming out of the break, Huron forced four straight St. Mary three-and-outs while putting together long scoring drives of its own. A nine-play drive was capped by a six-yard touchdown run from Dowell, giving the Tigers a 28-13 lead with 3:46 left in the third.
Huron scored again on its next drive on four plays with an 18-yard touchdown run from Justin Hicks, making the score 35-13 with 1:25 left in the third.
St. Mary scored with time winding down in the fourth quarter on a Kromer touchdown run.
Legando insisted that he didn’t believe last week’s overtime loss played a factor in his team’s first-half troubles.
“I know there are a lot of people who believe in that,” he said. “In football, you’ve got to battle emotion. Every five minutes there’s a swing of emotion. I just don’t believe that would cause that much damage.”
Print
Facebook
Twitter
EmailTags
Similar stories
