By BRYAN GASKINS
ARCADIA — Hamilton Heights finished last season in the middle of the pack the Mid-Indiana Conference for the first time since joining the league in 2000.
The Huskies appear back on track.
Heights built a commanding 42-7 lead through three quarters and went on to beat Eastern 45-21 in a battle for sole possession of the MIC lead here Friday night.
“I told our guys all week, ‘We’re coming out here with one goal in mind this week and that’s to win the conference for this week.’ And we won the conference for this week — we’re leaving our home stadium [Friday] night in first place,” first-year Heights coach Jason Simmons said. “Now we have to show up [today] ready to beat Taylor next week.”
The Comets had been the surprise of the early season — and had a promising start, forcing the Huskies into a three-and-out on the opening drive of the game and following with an 11-play, 97-yard scoring drive to take a 7-0 lead. But from there, the Comets’ upset bid quickly faded as the Huskies scored touchdowns on their next six possessions to go up 42-7 with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
“I felt like the kids were prepared when they got here. They showed that on our opening drive,” Eastern coach Josh Edwards said. “But Heights is a very good team and we tried to tell our guys that we couldn’t make the mistakes we’ve been making the past several weeks if we’re going to be a good team. Obviously, that’s what happened [Friday] night — too many unforced errors and penalties.”
Edwards also pointed to the Huskies’ physical play up front and team speed as differences in the game.
“Heights just played their butts off,” he said. “Bottom line, they just beat us.”
Eastern sparkled on its first offensive drive. Quarterback Jonathan Keith completed 7 of 8 pass attempts for 85 yards to key the 11-play drive. Joey Price scored on 35-yard touchdown reception that saw him outjump two defenders.
“Their quarterback controlled that entire drive. They took what we gave them and they marched it right down the field and scored,” Simmons said. “I was proud of how our guys bounced back and responded.”
Heights held Keith in check after the opening drive, ending the Comets’ next two drives with interceptions. After the opening drive, Keith completed just 3 of 8 passes for 36 yards in the first half.
The Huskies picked off Keith for a third time to end the opening drive of the second half.
“I think our guys got acclimated to [the Comets’] speed as opposed to what we saw in practice,” Simmons said. “We talked about trying to mix our coverages up, trying to disguise some things defensively, and I thought our kids got more aggressive. Our defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage well and our DBs and linebackers certainly played well also.”
The Huskies’ offense also played well, scoring all six of their touchdowns in the first three quarters. They shifted into cruise control in the fourth quarter and finished with 463 yards of offense — 312 on the ground and 151 through the air.
Simmons liked what he saw on offense, but lamented his squad’s penalties which included an illegal shift on the opening drive that negated a 45-yard reception and led to the three-and-out. The Huskies finished with 11 penalties totaling 65 yards.
Keith finished 18 of 28 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns for the Comets. He shook off his struggles in the middle two quarters to lead an 11-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Price made a tough grab for a three-yard TD.
Backup QB John Horner also scored in the fourth quarter, bolting for a 69-yard score with 3:18 left.
“We played an excellent team and I thought there were certain things we did that proved to our guys that we can compete with teams like this,” Edwards said. “We can take a lot away from this, but we have to learn from our mistakes.”
