GREENSBURG — Fireworks in the form of 94 yards, 90 yards, 78 yards and 65 yards fueled the Eastern Hancock Royals back into the win column on Friday night.
The big plays on both sides of the ball allowed the Royals to defeat South Decatur 41-7 on Friday night and improve their record to 3-3 on the season.
“Our athletes had the edge tonight,” Royals coach Doug Armstrong said afterwards. “We realized that early on and tried to take advantage of it.”
The game didn’t start out perfectly for the Royals as the Cougars, celebrating their homecoming, marched right down the field in three minutes to take an early lead. If that fazed the Royals offense, it didn’t show.
Freshman quarterback Houston Swan capped off the next drive with three consecutive passes to fellow freshman Cole Rainbolt, ending in a 25-yard touchdown pass. On the Royals’ next possession, Victor Olivo sprinted left and up the sideline for a 94-yard touchdown run to give the Royals a lead they would not relinquish.
Olivo’s run was the second longest run from scrimmage in school history.
“Olivo and Jacob Johnson are good backs for us,” Armstrong said. “They’ve been running hard for us, but we’ve had turnover issues from that position. Tonight was much better from those guys.”
In the second quarter, South Decatur drove into Eastern Hancock territory two times on back-to-back drives. On the first, a Royals stop on fourth down at the 10-yard line got the ball back, while a forced fumble on the next drive did the trick.
In the second half, the defense got on the scoreboard as sophomore Adrian Mills took a deflected interception back 65 yards for a score.
Swan kept dealing in the second half as well. In the quarter, Swan found sophomore Caden Sotelo for a 90-yard score and Rainbolt again for a 78-yard touchdown. Swan would finish the game with 279 yards passing in just three quarters of play.
“Swan clearly has got the talent,” Armstrong said. “He’s learning the ins and outs of playing that position, and if he keeps it up he will be a great player.”
The Royals will get a chance to go above .500 next week, when they play the last game of a four-game road trip against Class 1A No. 8 Monroe Central, with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
