Pictured is #21 Danny Robinson
On Tuesday night, the Hackett Jr High Hornets hosted rivals the Mansfield Tigers for their final football game of the season. Immediately after the sound of the opening whistle, the Hornets made it very clear to the Tigers that this was their field and that they were going to fight ’til the end to keep it. Hackett started the game on defense and play after play after play, Milus Houts, Cole Ketchum, Alex Woody, and Gavin Metcalf were relentless about shutting down the Tigers offense. After Danny Robinson finished things off with a QB sack, Mansfield had a turnover on downs.
With the Hornets defense setting the tone of the game, the offense came in to reiterate the message. At 2:55 in the first quarter, Hackett QB, Cole Ketchum shot a pass to Eli Slavens for a 70-yard TD run. Ketchum turned around and earned the 2-point conversion and it was the Hornets on the board first 8-0. The Hornets then played opossum for a second allowing Manfield to get a play in before coming back with a vengeance. Dawson Clay and Logan McCarthy asked Mansfield’s QB paper or plastic before delivering the second QB sack of the night. As the Tigers attempted to collect their bearings, Ketchum came in with the lightning, tipping a pass right into the hands of a waiting Slavens who then finished with the thunder for an interception. With 9 seconds left in the first quarter, Robinson came in with the second Hornet TD coupled with a Ketchum to Slavens PAT and the score sat at 16-0 Hackett.
As the Tigers offense was back in possession of the ball, Charlie McNeill, who had been administering pressure to Mansfield’s QB all night, finally hit paydirt giving the Hornets their third sack of the match. And only three plays later, Slavens came in like a wrecking ball for his second interception in the game. With the clock reading 5:50 in the second quarter, Ketchum shot into the endzone for a TD and along with the PAT from Robinson, Hackett remained firmly planted on top 24-0. Another failed Tiger attempt at offense and the Hornets doled out one more TD from a Ketchum to Clay pass sending the game into halftime with a 30-0 score.
Hackett continued the second half of the game the same way they played in the first by proceeding to lay down the law to the Tigers. Wyatt Hester found his way into the endzone and after another Robinson PAT, the Hornets upgraded the score to a dominating 38-0. It was the fourth QB sack handed over by Hayden Foster that really sent Mansfield over the edge. The Tigers regrouped and repositioned to finish the game with two huge back-to-back TD’s. But it wasn’t enough to overthrow the Hornets who ended the game and their season victoriously 38-12.
The Hackett Jr High Hornets closed shop on their 2020 football season with a 5-2 total play record. “I thought our guys got better over the course of the year. We aimed to finish first but we came up a little short this year. Our guys worked hard and learned how to compete better this year. We look forward to the off-season to get stronger and faster to be more physical next season,” head coach, Jordan Shelby, concluded.
