What started out as a warm, sunny, happy affair turned to a dark, rain-soaked, unfortunate setback for Habersham Central High School’s football team on Friday night as their opening game against rival Stephens County High School ended in a weather-shortened, 28-10, loss.
The game was called with 5:04 left in the third quarter at around 10:35 p.m. after a windy downpour drenched fans, the bands and the field during halftime. The steady onslaught of rain began around 8:45 as the SCHS band performed their halftime show and was preceded by bursts of strong winds that upended canopy tents on the field level.
Both teams came back out from their respective locker rooms and resumed play in the third before a lighting delay forced them back under cover at 9:25 p.m. They never came back to the field as the game was called an hour later.
The Raiders (0-1) won the toss to open the game and marched down the field. Inside the red zone was no different. HCHS was able to punch the ball across the goal line in the run game, but that score was called back due to an illegal shift.
The Raiders had to settle for a field goal, which kicker Camden Meads knocked through with ease.
“We did get in the end zone, but we had the penalty, so that hurt,” HCHS Head Coach Benji Harrison said. “Would I change the play calls? No, because they worked if we don’t get the penalty.”
The Raiders would improve their lead on the ensuing drive from Stephens County (1-0) as quarterback Tripp Underwood lost control of the ball before starting his throwing motion. Senior Everett Rudeseal scooped the ball off the turf and made his way to the goal line for the defensive touchdown.
From there, the offensive production was played largely between the 20s, but not much inside of them.
The Indians, however, cut the lead down to 10-7 with a 25-yard throw from Underwood to Davon Swinton with 1:25 left in the first quarter.
Standout running back Javin Gordon picked up his first score of his senior campaign on a 19-yard rush with 5:25 left in the first half. The touchdown and point after put the Indians up 14-10.
After taking some time off the clock, the Raiders punted the ball back to Stephens County. On the drive, there was a personal foul call among other penalties against HCHS that put the Indians well on their way to taking a 21-10 lead before the break.
Just before the half, the Raiders were able to get back inside the SCHS 20-yard line before a sack on quarterback DJ Pass melted away the remaining few seconds on the clock.
After coming back out of the locker room to meet the soggy conditions, Stephens County needed less than two minutes before a run from Brock Tankersley put the home team up 28-10.
The Raiders, on the next drive, moved the ball down to the 8-yard line with a big throw from Pass to find Zeke Whittington. The very next play was a fumble recovered by the Indians.
SCHS knocked 2:37 off the clock before the lightning delay went into effect, ultimately ending the contest.
Harrison chalked up the game to one major theme: missed opportunities.
“To me, that’s what it was. The first drive, to come away with three points, is disappointing,” he said. “We got up early and didn’t do the things necessary to sustain it.”
The Raiders had confusion on two different plays, one defensive and one offensive, that caused the coaching staff to have to burn timeouts. That left the team with just one timeout before halftime. The team used that final timeout just before Pass was sacked, leaving six seconds on the clock – not enough time to reset everyone and get the snap off for a shot at the end zone.
“If you keep those timeouts, then that’s a whole different series before half. I mean, it is what it is,” Harrison said. “This one hurts because of who it is.”
The team is essentially having growing pains in certain areas where youth and inexperience is showing its head. Harrison said those things will shake themselves out with time and time alone.
“I’ve said it multiple times: we are a young football team in some spots,” the head man said. “When you have a young football team in spots, there’s going to be some mistakes made that you don’t get out of making until you just put those kids in the situations and play a few games. I think a lot of that will take care of itself just with kids playing.”
Still, the result all comes back to missed opportunities.
“When you get inside the 20-yard line three times and you come away with three points, that’s not very good,” Harrison said. “You can’t just be good between the 20s. You’ve got to be good when you get into the red zone. We didn’t do a good enough job.”
Now the team will turn its focus to Flowery Branch High School, next week’s opponent. Within that preparation, the Raiders will focus on “cleaning things up,” which included mental busts around the field of play.
Harrison said he also has a few guys in positions that are pretty equal in their play and he’s waiting on somebody to take it.
“There’s a lot of guys right there that are just about the same. Somebody needs to step up and say, ‘This is my position. I’m going to take this position and I’m going to run with it.’”
Coaches often say you make your biggest improvements between the first and second game of the season, a sentiment Harrison reiterated before getting his team on the busses to head back up the mountain. Now the wait is on to see if his team can make that leap in a week’s time.
The Raiders and Falcons will kick off in Flowery Branch at 7:30 p.m. on August 23.
