Kylie Dugger & Kyndal Langley
The eighth-grade Roughnecks lost a 22-26 heartbreaker last Thursday at home against long-time rival Spring Hill.
“The game was full of excitement, explosive plays, and nail-biting situations,” Coach Paul Bucher said. “I’m extremely proud of our guys. We played as hard as I’ve seen any junior high team play.”
Offensive standouts for the ‘Necks included De Williams with three touchdowns, 158 yards rushing, and two sacks on the night. Trent Pepper caught five receptions for 30 yards and Will Young rushed for 128 yards, threw six for 12 with 65 total yards passing, and scored two, two-point conversions.
“They did not cover me very well and I kept running the same route,” Pepper said. “We had really good defense in the second half and that shut them down. It seemed like we were giving up on ourselves because we couldn’t get another score.”
Both coaches were extremely proud of their players as it was one of the toughest games they had played.
“It was apparent when you watched the game that our boys played their butts off,” Coach Tim Vandergriff said. “We could not be more proud of the effort they gave. This game showed just how your kids will outwork anybody we play.”
Defensively for the ‘Necks Brock Reddic had four sacks, five tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and a blocked punt. Kash Y’barbo made four tackles for a loss.
“I think we played well on defense and we improved offensively from last week,” Reddic said. “Spring Hill had a couple of players that really dominated at times and I would like to have more games like this because it was a challenge for sure.”
Tonight White Oak is on the road against the Rains Wildcats, with a game-time set for 5:30 p.m.
