Huskies finally howl, wear down Carey 44-14
Hansen gets first-ever grid win over Panthers
By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer
Connor Rivera, Carey School freshman, got the running nod in the second half of Friday?s season-opening non-league game against Hansen and responded with 61 rushing yards plus a 55-yard TD catch. Photo by David N. Seelig
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The Hansen Huskies, never winners over the Carey Panthers in football, got a lot of payback Friday at Derrick Parke Memorial Field, Carey.
Led by five strong seniors, Hansen (2-0) out-gained a young Carey squad 495-223 in yardage and piled up a 44-14 non-conference eight-man football victory on the Panther gridiron.
Speedy senior Kyle King (89 rushing yards, 172 yards in pass receptions) racked up 325 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns for Hansen.
Mark Pearson, Hansen?s 6-2, 195-pound running back and linebacker, ran over the Carey tacklers en route to 89 rushing yards on 17 carries. He scored the first touchdown of the night and ended up with seven tackles.
And Hansen?s senior quarterback Matt Freestone was nearly unstoppable, completing 10 of 12 aerials for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Carey had led 6-0 in the football series against Hansen and had out-scored the Huskies 278-28 in those meetings, including three straight shutouts. Hansen had only scored one TD in three lopsided losses at Carey.
Friday, the Magic Valley Conference 1A Division I Huskies scored six touchdowns in one game over a much smaller and younger Sawtooth Conference 1A Division II Carey team that suited up no seniors and eight juniors.
Two of those juniors, quarterback/safety Tyler Cook and center Luke Harmon, left the game due to hip injuries in the second half. The injuries came from hard, clean Hansen hits. The Huskies smelled Panther blood after taking a 22-0 halftime lead.
It was a long evening for coach Lane Kirkland?s Panthers, but they still managed to tackle well and showed promise on offense with their young players, particularly freshman running back Connor Rivera.
Carey struggled on offense in the first half, totaling only 40 yards to Hansen?s 242. After stopping Hansen?s first offensive possession of the second half, Carey?s offense turned to Rivera for the first time?and the shifty 5-4, 135-pound scatback responded.
Rivera, finding holes behind an offensive line of Brad Hunt, Jesus Ocampo, Luke Harmon, Nathan Foster and Tadd Green, raced for 52 yards on six carries on Carey?s first two attacks of the second half.
The first threat, which included a 12-yard pass from Tyler Cook to Cody Baird on fourth-and-six, died out at the Hansen 33-yard-line. Then Carey?s defense stopped the Huskies on four downs, Baird up-ending Pearson for no gain on a fourth-down attempt.
Carey took over in Husky territory and went 42 yards to paydirt?Rivera doing most of the damage slicing through Hansen?s bigger defenders. Baird scored the touchdown on a tough-as-nails run from five yards out. QB Cook ran the conversion, but he suffered a hip pointer on the play.
It cut Hansen?s lead to 22-8 with about 14 minutes left. But, after a 26-yard kickoff return by King, the Huskies took advantage of Cook?s absence at safety to connect with a 55-yard Freestone-to-King left-to-right pass. The Hansen lead quickly grew to 30-8.
Carey?s defense, led by Baird (14 tackles), Tadd Green (10), Brad Hunt (6), Devin Simpson (8) and Allen Peck (11 tackles) continued to do a nice job. It stopped Hansen?s next drive on fourth down at the Panther 15?Jesus Ocampo (11 tackles) making the stop.
But, with sophomore Hunt adjusting to the quarterback position and the entire Carey team responding to Harmon?s loss to a hip injury on a blindside block during a Hansen punt return, the Panther offense sputtered.
Fortunately, Carey scored once more when Hunt connected with Rivera on screen pass on third-and-eight near midfield. With his older brother K.C. Rivera hollering ?sprint, sprint!? at the top of his lungs from the sideline, Connor did just that.
He outran the Hansen defenders on a 55-yard scoring play. Rivera finished with 61 rushing yards and 57 yards in pass receptions, all after half.
Carey (0-1, 1-0 league) celebrates its 2004 Homecoming Friday, Sept. 10 with a 7 p.m. home non-conference game against the Dietrich Blue Devils (0-1, 1-0). Dietrich lost 50-0 at Oakley Friday.
Carey was supposed to play Clark County for its Homecoming, but the Bobcats disbanded their team for 2004. So Carey and Dietrich decided to play twice this season. Only the Sept. 24 contest at Dietrich will count in the Sawtooth West standings, but Carey has gained a forfeit league win because of Clark County?s exit.
CAREY NOTES?In the south-central Idaho region, early-season prep football results are squarely in favor of the new Idaho eight-man football alignment into 1A Division I (100-159) and 1A Division II (under 100). Summing up, the bigger Magic Valley Conference schools are dominating.
In nine games, MVC bigger schools have an 8-1 record and are out-scoring the Division II schools 337-104. The exception was Mackay?s 42-14 win at Hagerman Aug. 27. In addition to Hansen?s 30-point win at Carey Friday, Hagerman (1-1) blanked Camas County 23-0, Shoshone shut out Richfield 28-0 and Raft River was all over Murtaugh 42-12.
Southwestern Idaho is generally following suit (Cascade 56-6 over Greenleaf Friends and Garden Valley 46-0 over Wilder). The exception there is Notus? 44-34 win over Cambridge Friday. Accordingly, Notus is ranked #1 and Mackay #3 in the early Idahosports.com poll of 1A Division II eight-man football schools.
Hansen 44, Carey 14
Hansen 6 16 8 14 44
Carey 0 0 8 6 14
SCORING
1st half
Hansen?Mark Pearson, 8-yd run (pass failed); 2:43 1st (6-0 H)
Hansen?Kyle King, 19-yd run (Pearson run); 5:25 2nd (14-0 H)
Hansen?King, 37-yd pass from Matt Freestone (Freestone run); 0:23 2nd (22-0 H)
2nd half
Carey?Cody Baird, 5-yd run (Tyler Cook run); 1:28 3rd (22-8 H).
Hansen?King, 55-yd pass from Freestone (R.J. Harman, pass from Freestone); 1:07 3rd (30-8 H)
Hansen?King, 35-yd run (Freestone run); 9:04 4th (38-8 H)
Hansen?Kenny Kamp, 2-yd run (run failed); 4:26 4th (44-8 H)
Carey?Connor Rivera, 55-yd pass from Brad Hunt (run failed); 1:40 4th (44-14 H)
KEY STATS HANSEN CAREY
Off. plays...78...57
Possession time...26:43...21:17
1st downs, rush...9...6
1st downs, pass...4...2
1st downs, penal...2...0
1st downs, total...15...8
Rushes, yards...55-253...32-99
Yards per carry...4.6...3.1
Fumbles lost...0...3
Comp., passes...12-14...8-16
Comp. percentage...86%...50%
Passing yards...178...97
Yards per catch...14.8...12.1
Intercepted by...0...0
Sacks by, yards...0-0...0-0
Returns, yards...3-64...2-27
Tot. yards gained...495...223
Penalties, yards...6-44...11-73
Punts, yardage...1-32...4-101
Punt average...32.0...25.3
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS?Carey
Rushing?Connor Rivera 10-61, 3 1sts; Cody Baird 9-19, 2 1sts; Brad Hunt 3-15; Nathan Foster 6-4; Tyler Cook 3-3, 1 1st.
Passing?Brad Hunt 3-4, 63 yards, 1 TD; Tyler Cook 5-12, 34 yards, 2 1sts.
Receiving?Connor Rivera 2-57, 1 TD; Cody Baird 3-25; Brad Hunt 1-8, 1 1st; Allen Peck 1-4; Tadd Green 1-3.
Kickoff returns?Brian Adamson 1-23.
All-purpose yardage?Connor Rivera 118.
Tackles (93)?Cody Baird 14, Jesus Ocampo 11, Allen Peck 11, Tadd Green 10, Nathan Foster 9, Devin Simpson 8, Tyler Cook 8, Brad Hunt 6, Brian Adamson 4, Luke Harmon 4, Ben Neilson 2, Bryan Hill 2, James Carlson 2, Jordan Surerus 1, Paul Murphy 1.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS?Hansen
Rushing?Mark Pearson 17-89, 2 1sts, 1 TD, 1 conv.; Kyle King 11-89, 2 1sts, 2 TD; Matt Freestone 12-51, 4 1sts, 2 conv.; Sky Spratt 9-23, 1 1st; Kenny Kamp 2-8, 1 TD.
Passing?Matt Freestone 10-12, 175 yards, 4 1sts, 2 TD, 1 conv.; Nick Urie 2-2, 3 yards.
Receiving?Kyle King 6-172, 4 1sts, 2 TD.
Kickoff returns?Kyle King 3-64.
All-purpose yardage?Kyle King 325.
Tackles leaders?R.J. Harman 8, Sky Spratt 8, Mark Pearson 7, Ruben Salazar 5, Brett Loveless 4, Beau Lockwood 4.
