Hayden George secures 34-29 win for No. 3 UHS over Spring Mills
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SPRING MILLS -- There's something about University traveling to Spring Mills and streaks dying.
Two years ago, the Hawks ended the Cardinals' nearly season-long stretch of not allowing points. Friday night, the Cardinals became the first team to hold a lead over the Hawks in the last seven weeks. Despite that, University still came out on top in crunch time, 34-29.
UHS coach Eric Snyder knew the game would be tough -- he made that clear following the win over Jefferson in Week 6 -- especially with the Cardinals coming off a bye week. To that end, he said that he prepped his third-ranked team on the host's "three rings of motivation."
"They had an extra week of preparation, which they came out in a defense we weren’t quite ready for up front. So, kudos for them to be able to get their kids in that. That just shows the good coaching that they have. To be able to compete at a high level with it, too.
"Ring number two, it’s the homecoming game. So, they’re going to have a little burst of energy to be able to take care of that. And then on top of it, they have wonderful coaches. On top of that, they were trying to get above .500 one more time. They had a lot of extra motivation to make that happen."
Interestingly, Spring Mills coach Marcus Law had a slight concern coming off the bye week. In the end, he was happy with how his team fought and nearly pulled off the upset.
"We go back to the last couple of years, coming out of a bye week, we’ve been terrible," he said. "We talked about it all week, stacking good practices on top of good practices, executing, blocking and tackling. And we put that focus out there."
Much of the defensive production came down to two starting linebackers fully healthy after dealing with injuries. Both sophomores, Noah Reed (knee) and Nolan Forrest (shoulder), combined for 7 tackles, 11 assisted tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks.
Their presence was made known early, as the Cardinals stymied the Hawks's high-flying offense until the first minute of the second quarter when Harrison Helbig found Kaleil Lewis over the top for a 13-yard touchdown. With the Hawks' defense holding just as tight a grip, a tiring Cardinals' defense allowed Helbig to connect with Kyle Weaver for a 9-yard touchdown on the next drive. Then, a miscue by Spring Mills quarterback Chaz Milburn within the two-minute mark of the half saw MJ Mckenzie tally a 49-yard pick-six.
After the half, and down by two scores, running back Chris Williams tacked on the Cardinals' second score of the night, leaking out from the backfield for a 15-yard touchdown. Brody Kehler would respond on the next drive, though, breaking multiple tackles en route to a 65-yard touchdown to keep it a two-score game with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter.
With time dwindling, the Hawks looked a little disheveled. Helbig was trying to force it in the air, while the run game had begun to stall. Snyder said he and his staff told him to trust his legs.
"I thought it got him going, like got him [thinking], 'OK, I can be a part of this game,' instead of just not being his best passing day. And he has those. And what’s good about the offense is that we’re still able to have those and score the amount of points that we were able to today. So, I give him a lot of credit just for sticking with it, you know, not letting it overcome him in the moment."
After rediscovering their rhythm, a muffed punt by the Cardinals put the Hawks within the red zone to start their drive. A hiccup on the first play of that drive -- an ineligible receiver downfield penalty -- pushed them back, but Helbig broke out for a long gain and first down on the ensuing play.
Then Kehler pushed the ball to the Cardinals' 6-yard line. He did it again to bring it to the 2-yard line. And again, for a touchdown to retake the lead. They wouldn't relinquish it after that, thanks to Hayden George picking off Milburn on the Cardinals' final attempt to secure the win.
Following the win, Snyder was beginning to focus on what his Hawks (8-0) need to clean up ahead of next week's game against Preston.
"We've got to clean up the line up front a little bit," he said. "This is probably our first game where the offensive line didn’t just dominate their opponent. So, it’s good to be able to get that in a weak game instead of the first, second, third round of the playoffs. To be able to have that kind of mistake handed to us, to be able to learn from that, we're going to be able to get on film and be able to clean up those mistakes and just be able to make ourselves better in the long run."
Helbig ended the night 8 of 21 for 98 yards and two touchdowns. He logged one interception. George led the receivers with 45 yards on two receptions. Kehler led on the ground, crossing the century mark at 118 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.