By Larkin Daniels & Baylee White
Dee Williams scored two offensive touchdowns and recovered a fumble for a touchdown to lead the ‘Necks to a decisive win over the Eagles in the season opener.
“I was shocked at first and really just thought I would fall on the ball,” Williams said.” “But when Masen Riley and Brock Reddic hit the quarterback I had the opportunity to scoop it up and run 52 yards for the score.”
Will Young had one offensive touchdown and several completed passes at quarterback, while Kash Y’Barbo added an interception and ran it back for a touchdown to help the Roughnecks in the victory.
“The offense started off slow and the defense came up with a big play for a touchdown right before the half and that helped,” Young said. “We’ve got to continue to work hard and stop underestimating the opponent.”
Offensive standouts for the ‘Necks included, Reyson Gajewsky, Reddic, Cade Sullivan, Ryan Owens, Landen Aycock, Riley, Matthew Warrens, Craig Caldwell, Cole Caraway, Henry Lattin, and Gage Davidson.
“I think we played sloppy the first half and then the second half we came in and cleaned it all up with not as many penalties and started scoring some points,” Lattin said.” I am the right tackle on the offensive line and depending on what the play is, it can be a lot of pressure because if the ball is on my side, I can’t miss the block. Overall, I think we have a chance of going undefeated again.”
The team struggled offensively the first half, but by the second half they made the necessary adjustments and played like a different team.
“For the first game, we made some mistakes.” Coach Tim Vandergriff said.” We are super proud of our kids efforts. They’ve been working hard and it’s good to see that hard work pay off. We couldn’t be happier for them.”
The eighth grade ‘Necks will host the Spring Hill Panthers tonight and game time is set for 5:30 pm.
