Kirk Academy’s varsity football team made quick work last Friday night, scoring 42 unanswered first-half points to cruise to a 56-13 victory over Class AAAAA Washington School on its home turf in Greenville.
Out of the gate, the Class AAAA Raiders (5-3, 2-1) sputtered on offense following the long road trip – the third in as many weeks – but quickly found the right gear and chalked up 456 yards of total offense, while its defense held the Generals (1-6) to 162 yards of offense spoiling their Homecoming.
“It was a good win for us to get back on track first of all – winning – that’s important to get some of that confidence back,” KA head coach Mike Beagle said. “Secondly, we’re still not tackling as well as we need to; we’ve got to get that fixed. We still made some mistakes – more concentration penalties that we’ve had an issue with throughout the year. We have got to get more locked in. It’s great to see our guys win to get a little bit of that swagger back.”
Kirk scored three times in each the first and second quarters. Senior quarterback Colbert Hathcock darted 26 yards for the team’s first touchdown with 8:27 left in the first and followed it up with a 38-yard TD pass to senior receiver Richard Flautt, who hauled in the pass in stride, along Washington School’s sideline. The third first-quarter score came with 50 seconds left when Raiders senior Montgomery Ferguson snagged Generals quarterback Fred Nailer’s pass at midfield and raced 51 yards for the pick-six. Each of sophomore placekicker Gunner Vance’s extra-point kicks split the uprights giving Kirk a commanding 21-0 lead.
Senior tailback A.J. Wren scored the Raiders’ first two second-quarter touchdowns on runs of 5 and 86 yards followed by a Hathcock 4-yard plunge. The scores came with 8:32, 4:20 and 54 seconds left until halftime, respectively. Vance’s kicks were true and the Raiders took a 42-0 lead into the locker room at intermission.
KA’s coaching staff began subbing for starters midways through the second quarter, allowing most starters the chance to rest during the second half, which featured a running clock. The Raiders managed one touchdown – a 6-yard run by Hathcock – with 5:30 left in the third quarter.
The second string defense held strong throughout the third quarter, but allowed a score with 8:00 minutes left to play when Nailer connected with Nathan Thompson on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Avery Morris’ PAT was good, making the score 49-7.
The Raiders answered back with its final touchdown of the night when senior tailback Walker Staten scored on a 12-yard run. Once again, Vance’s kick was good extending Kirk’s lead, 56-7.
A KA special teams breakdown allowed Washington School the opportunity to light up the score board one last time when Morris raced 77 yards for the score. Time ran out, so the extra-point kick was not attempted.
With each ballgame, Beagle believes that his Raiders are improving.
“We’ve got a pretty good nucleus and they understand the process started a year ago and we’re slowly climbing that ladder, we’re not there yet, but we’re slowly climbing that ladder,” he said. “I think last week (43-42 OT loss to Indianola), that stung a little bit. They played hard – we didn’t play very well in the second half a week ago and it kind of cost us the game in all actuality. We’re still in a learning process, but I’m proud of our kids, proud of the win.”
Hathcock finished the game 4-of-5 passing for 85 yards and a touchdown. He ran the pigskin five times for 47 yards and three scores.
Wren led the charge on the ground with 201 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts – an 18.3-yard average. Sophomore Theron Hubbard toted the ball eight times for 78 yards, Staten had four attempts for 28 yards and Vance had one run of 17 yards. In total, the Raiders had 371 yards rushing.
Flautt was the leading receiver with his 38-yard touchdown catch. Senior Garrett Benson, sophomore Logan Pratt and Wren also finished with one reception each of 26, 12 and 9 yards, respectively.
Staten led Kirk’s defense with five tackles followed closely by senior linebacker Mason Byars with four tackles, including two for losses. Senior defensive tackle Trey Cashaw chipped in with 3.5 tackles – one for a loss – and a fumble recovery and senior Tripp Taylor added 3 tackles.
Kirk will finally be back home this Friday night as they host Region 1 foe Marshall Academy for the Raiders’ Homecoming.
“We set ourselves up for a showdown; we made it difficult on ourselves earlier in the season,” Beagle said. “Now we’re looking at a showdown potentially with Marshall probably for the conference championship next week at home.”
Beagle added that it will be a physical game and believes that the team with fewer mistakes will claim the win.
“We’ve got to eliminate mistakes and we’ve got to compliment ourselves offensively and defensively,” Beagle concluded.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
