GOOD HOPE – Hanceville and Good Hope faced off Friday night at James W. Shabel Stadium. It has always been testy at times between these two teams, and tonight was no exception. It was a very physical game, and in the end, Hanceville came out on top, 32-13.
Good Hope punted on their first offensive series of the game. Hanceville started their first series at the 28-yard line and behind runs by B.J. Smalls and big passes from Alex Campbell to Kaine Yates, they had no problems driving the ball down the field. But once they got to the 8-yard line, the Raider defense stiffened up and Matt Hancock stopped Romael Simmons on a fourth-down play at the 4-yard line to force Hanceville to turn the ball over on downs. After a Hancock run on the first play netted Good Hope their first first down of the game, the Bulldogs forced the Raiders to punt yet again, and Hanceville took over at their own 42-yard line. R.J. Evans was key on this drive as he picked up a first down for the Bulldogs on a third-and-7 play. Then on a third-and-10 from the 40-yard line, he caught a touchdown pass from Campbell to put Hanceville on the scoreboard with 8:23 remaining in the first half.
But the Raiders answered right back. Preston Bagwell returned the kickoff to the 35, and on the very first play, Cameron Twilley found a big hole and was untouched as he scored on a 65-yard run to even the score at 6 with 7:58 remaining before halftime. Hanceville used the running game to perfection as they picked up some big first downs on their next offensive series, but none was bigger than the 27-yard run by Evans on a fourth-and-8 play that set them up at the 15-yard line and from there, Campbell found Yates all alone in the end zone to put the Bulldogs back in the lead, 12-6, with 5:10 remaining in the first half.
Hanceville forced a Raider turnover on the next series as Hancock's pass got picked off and returned to the 48-yard line. It took just two plays for the Bulldogs to find the end zone as a 30-yard pass play from Campbell to Trey Martin helped set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Smalls, and the lead increased to 18-6, which would be the score at the half.
Good Hope recovered their own kickoff to start the second half. They recovered it at their own 46-yard line and Twilley broke another big run of 44 yards before getting stopped at the 2-yard line. Bagwell ran it in from there to cut the lead to 18-13 with only 44 seconds coming off the clock in the third quarter.
Things got a little heated on the next Raider kickoff. There was some pushing and shoving after the Bulldogs recovered the ball. Hanceville rode the legs of Smalls yet again on their first series of the quarter, gaining 52 out of the 58 yards on the drive, including a 44-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 26-13 with 9:43 remaining in the third quarter.
After forcing the Raiders to punt on their next series, the Bulldogs’ running game, again, wore the Raider defense down as Simmons, Evans and Smalls did their parts on this drive before Smalls finished it off with his third touchdown of the night: an 11-yard run on a fourth-and-3 to increase the Bulldog lead to 32-13, which ended up being the final score.
Smalls finished with 148 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns. Campbell completed 8 of 9 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Simmons rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries. Evans had 51 yards on eight carries, plus the reception for a touchdown. Yates had four receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown, plus 20 yards on three carries. The defense played one of their best games of the season as the Bulldogs finished the season at 3-7. But the future is looking bright under head coach Craig Flanigan.
"The kids played from the first whistle until the last whistle. I am so proud of these kids," Flanigan said. "I cannot wait to see Smalls play at the next level. Campbell's still got a lot to learn, but he is so calm. The future is very bright for Hanceville football."
Twilley finished with 113 yards on just five carries and a touchdown. Bagwell, who returned this week after getting injured in the third quarter against West Point two weeks ago, rushed for 17 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Austin Eakes, Matt Schwaiger, Jackson Hancock, Matt Hancock, Riley Kilpatrick, Warren Creel and Eric Dickerson made some big plays and tackles on defense for the Raiders, who finished the season 0-10 for the first time since 1995.
"Just like last week, in the second half, we moved the ball better. We made some big plays; we just could not sustain them." Good Hope coach Alan Scott said. "But, give them credit. They ran the ball really good tonight. I just hate it for these guys because they have gone through a really tough season. I just hope these guys will continue to become better men and God will always be with them."
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