All week long the theme was “Heroes on the Hill” as Magnolia went about preparing for homecoming. The Hill was at times reminiscent of the Hollywood Hills of old as beautiful girls in magnificent dresses walked the halls along with Captain America, Batman, Superman, and the Black Widow. Meanwhile, the elementary school was abuzz with talk of the upcoming peewee football game, the annual homecoming parade, and who would win the school’s food drive. Somehow, with all the distractions, Coach Young’s Chiefs waited patiently for the main event of the week; the Chiefs’ showdown with the Washington Generals.
The game started out as a defensive battle, as neither Magnolia Heights nor Washington were able to sustain drives that would result in points in the first quarter. The second quarter was more of the same with penalties and miscues killing drives until the Chiefs’ Blake Kirby connected with Graycen Crumbley on an 18-yard touchdown pass. The PAT sailed through the uprights, and the Chiefs took their first lead of the game 7-0 with 59 seconds left in the half.
After the presentation of the Queen and her court, the Chiefs’ offense picked up where it left off scoring thirteen unanswered points in the third quarter. Hunter Harris scored the first of these second half touchdowns with Harris punching it in from the 6 yard line. The PAT was good and the Chiefs led 14-0.
The Magnolia Heights defense stiffened and the Generals were forced to punt the ball back to the Chiefs who took over on their own 31 yard line. On second down Ross Thompson broke the game open galloping 69 yards down the sideline into the end zone to widen the advantage 20-0. Following the touchdown the General defense stopped the Chiefs extra point attempt to keep the score at 20-7.
The Generals tried to make a show of it in the fourth quarter with two scores of their own. The last of which came with 42 seconds left in the game when Kell Hodges narrowed the Chief’s lead to 20-13. The Generals gambled on a two point conversion attempt and came up short forcing them to attempt an on-side kick in hopes of getting one more shot at the end zone.
Coach Young put his “hands team” on the field anticipating the on-side kick. The Chiefs recovered the ball at midfield. Battling the clock as well as the Generals, Kirby ended the game by taking a knee, as the final seconds ticked off the clock giving the Chiefs a 20 to 14 homecoming victory.
Kirby was 15/24 passing for 129 yards. Kirby’s favorite target on this night was Hunter Jones who caught 7 balls for 47 yards. Ash Pepper also gained 47 yards on 4 attempts. Crumbley caught one pass for 18 yards, Drew Prosek had 12 yards on two catches, and Blake Dunlap caught one pass for 5 yards.
The Chiefs rushing game accounted for 157 yards on 52 carries. Kirby rushed 8 times for 32 yards. Sophomore running back Ross Thompson gained 103 yards on 12 attempts and junior Harris gained 22 yards on 6 attempts.
Defensively, the Chiefs were led by Ash Moore with 12 tackles, Jackson Thomas with 10, Hunter Pugh with 7, Carson O’Conner and Harris each with 6 tackles, Ross Thompson and Gavin Woods each had 5 stops, along with Walker Gatewood and Harrison Smith who recorded four tackle. Wales Finke, Dunlap, Hunter Jones all had two tackles, and Pepper and Jason Jenkins finished with one a piece in the Chiefs victory.
The win over Washington gives the Chiefs a 3-2, 1-2 record.
