(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
PLAYOFF ACTION … Evergreen’s Colton Robertson stretches for a pass during Evergreen’s first-round playoff game at Patrick Henry. VIEW ALL PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
HAMLER – No matter the level, teams that have played deep in the post season treat those games like a business trip. Whatever other hype or hoopla that surrounds the game, it comes down to what happens on the athletic surface.
Patrick Henry took care of business on the field as the Patriots gained 296 first half yards, holding Evergreen to minus-3, and rolled to a 28-0 lead on their way to a 35-4 romp in a Division VI Region 22 contest.
Patrick Henry scored four of their five first half possessions, gashing the Viking defense with 11 plays of 10 yards or more to take a 28-point margin into the break.
Patriot quarterback Lincoln Creager, a probable Northwestern commit, had three of those chunk plays of 22, 10 and 13 before scoring from 7 yards away to cap a 62-yard march on Patrick Henry’s first possession.
The second score came when Creager hit Kiefer Holloway for 15, Grant Smith broke off 31, then Creager found a wide-open Brian Scherdt for the last 37 in an 84 yard, four play burst to make it 14-0 with 2:10 left in the first.
Patrick Henry added on a third score the first play of the second quarter when Creager found an open Holloway for a 47-yard score, then got the fourth by hitting Lane Jackson from 21 yards out with 40 seconds left in the half to cap the first half outburst.
Meanwhile the Patrick Henry defense stuffed the Vikings three-and-out five straight times, capping the half with a sack of quarterback Bryce Bolger by Jaden Punches.
The Patriots hit the running clock rule by taking the second half kickoff, and going 74 yards in 11 plays, capped by Cal Schroeder’s one-yard dive to make it 35-0.
The Patriots did do some things wrong as they committed eight penalties, including four offensive offsides. An airmailed snap on a fourth quarter punt that went through the end zone gave Evergreen a two-point safety to put the Vikings on the board.
Henry Gibson was tackled at his own one after picking off a Bolger aerial late in the game, and after the PH went three-and-out, the Vikings got a second safety when it was ruled the punter’s knee touched the ground fielding the snap.
Evergreen got their initial first down with 3:20 left in the game when Bolger hit Quinn Eisel with a 13-yard pass and had just two first downs for the game.
The Vikings finished 6-5 for the season while Patrick Henry moves on to face Carey who was an upset winner over Tinora.
EVERGREEN 0 0 0 4 – 4
P. HENRY 14 14 7 0 – 35
PH – Creager 7-yd run (kick good)
PH – Scherdt 37-yd pass from Creager (kick good)
PH – Holloway 47-yd pass from Creager (kick good)
PH – Jackson 21-yd pass from Creager (kick good)
PH – Schroeder 1-yd run (kick good)
E – safety
E – safety
ELUDING THE DEFENSE … Evergreen junior Quinten Eisel tries to get to the edge with Patriot defenders in pursuit.