Miscues at all the wrong times cost Hall against previously winless Sherrard

SHERRARD – It was easy to decipher from the beginning.

The Three Rivers Conference Mississippi Week 4 game Friday between Hall-Putnam County and Sherrard was going to be won by the team who had the momentum at the end, as huge momentum swings teeter-tottered to both squads.

However, when the last horn blew, the Red Devils were on the opposite side of the scale as they fell 20-14 to the Tigers.

“It was self-inflicted. Your toughest opponent is yourself, and that is what happened. We beat ourselves,” said first-year Hall-PC coach Logan Larson. “We had a chance to drive down the field, and we had a bad snap. That had nothing to do with anybody else; it was us.

“Sherrard was good. They’re physical at linebacker. They were downhill, we didn’t get our eyes up, and they made a bunch of tackles. We peaked in the back end when we’re playing coverage, and then they get a big one. It was a good scheme, and they made good plays to put us in a bind, but we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do.”

After Hall-PC (1-3, 1-1 TRC Mississippi) went three-and-out in its first possession, Sherrard (1-3, 1-1 TRC Mississippi) got points on its first possession when junior quarterback Carter Brown scored on a 30-yard QB scamper for a 6-0 first quarter lead.

The Red Devils and Tigers traded failed possessions before junior fullback Aiden Redcliff (17 carries for 56 yards and a TD) put Hall-PC on the scoreboard with a 2-yard run with 8:43 on the second-quarter clock after junior quarterback Dylan Glynn found senior Jack Jablonski on a 21-yard pass and catch to set up the short TD run for a 7-6 lead. Senior foreign-exchange student Ilan Bardot was 2 for 2 on point-after attempts.

Sherrard didn’t take long to answer. It responded with a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive capped off with a 12-yard run by senior Garrett Woodward to retake the lead 12-7.

In a similiar formula as before, the squads traded unsuccessful offensive possessions.

Also familiar, Hall-PC connected for a score, this time on a high-impact trick play. Glynn handed off to Redcliff, and the latter took two steps before firing a halfback pass to Jablonski, who was wide open on the left side of the field for a 59-yard gain to set the Red Devils up on the Sherrard 6-yard line.

After two runs for 1 yard, Glynn located junior Chase Burkart for a 5-yard score with 3.3 seconds left in the second quarter to take a 14-12 halftime lead.

“We had the momentum going into halftime. We had a great two-minute drive where we executed and did things right,” Larson said. “We thought, ‘Can we get a quick stop?’ on our next defensive stance, and we did get a stop early in the third quarter. We thought we were in control. Then we drove the ball down the field and had a turnover.

“It can’t happen. We kept giving ourselves chances, chances and chances, because we had some big fourth-down stops and forced Sherrard to punt. Then we couldn’t move the ball, and we had a hard time protecting Dylan.”

After the big Red Devils’ defensive stop to end Sherrard’s first possession of the second half, Sherrard intercepted Hall-PC. However, it wasn’t entirely unfavorable to the Red Devils, because the Tigers were on their own 6-yard line. After a three-and-out, Sherrard punted, and Hall-PC was on the Tigers’ 34-yard line in prime position to score.

On the third play, the Red Devils fumbled, and the Tigers recovered and scored with Brown’s second QB-keeper TD run of the game to take the 20-14 lead – which became the final result.

The Red Devils still had 1:21 left in the game to steal the victory, but a second interception and a last possession with a miscalculated run for minus-13 yards and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty sealed the Red Devils’ fate.