CHARLOTTESVILLE — After falling behind 20-0 early, Eastern Hancock’s offense came to life.
Driving with under a minute left in the first half after cutting the deficit to 20-8, the Royals were less than 20 yards from going into the break down just one score.
A 90-yard interception return for a touchdown from Shenandoah’s Gabe Young emphatically put a stop to the Royals’ momentum.
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Eastern Hancock couldn’t recover, falling to their rivals 47-8 on Friday night.
“It looked like maybe he was open, not for very long so we had to make sure we really fired it in there on time,” Eastern Hancock coach Doug Armstrong said of the interception. “(Young) is a great athlete, and we knew that he was going to be making plays throughout the night. He had an opportunity there, he made a good play on it. We might have threw it a little late, but I give him a lot of credit.”
The Royals were looking to avenge last year’s 67-13 blowout loss to their rivals. They came into the game without leading rusher Victor Olivo, who was on the sideline in a sling but is expected back this season, and lost second-leading rusher Jacob Johnson almost immediately to a collarbone injury, one that will keep him out for the remainder of the year.
Garrett Friesen had the majority of the carriers for the Royals, rushing 24 times for 59 yards.
“Last year was a pretty bad situation score-wise at halftime, and we wanted to compete, we wanted to fight,” Armstrong said. “We wanted to battle and we did that. We had a good second quarter and moved the ball. You’ve got a chance in the last minute of the half to be 20-16, and (Young) makes the play.”
The opening drives from each team set the tone for what was to come.
Shenandoah, ranked No. 7 in Class 2A, shot itself in the foot right from the get-go. After the first play of the game was stopped for no gain by Eastern Hancock, a holding penalty on the next play, erasing what would have been a huge gain, set the Raiders back.
A personal foul on the next play pushed them back even further, to 2nd and 34.
That’s when the Royals started making mistakes of their own.
A pass interference penalty gave the Raiders half their distance back, a long pass got the drive to 3rd and 1, and conversions on that play and a 4th down later in the drive, along with another Eastern Hancock penalty, led to a touchdown for the visitors and an early lead.
The Royals first offensive play saw a holding penalty wipe out a 19-yard run, leading to a three-and-out.
After a punt, Shenandoah needed just one play to score again, taking a 13-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Eastern Hancock’s defense came up with a huge stop near the end of the first quarter, forcing a turnover on downs after the Raiders got into the red zone. The offense couldn’t capitalize on the momentum, and a short punt gave the ball to Shenandoah at the Royals 35-yard line.
The Raiders quickly extended their lead to 20.
The Royals offense came alive on their fourth drive, sustaining a five-minute drive that traveled 65 yards and ended with a 4-yard TD pass from Houston Swan to Cole Rainbolt. The hosts converted the two-point attempt, cutting the deficit to 20-8.
Along with Friesen, Swan and Rainbolt made up the majority of the Royals offense. The freshman quarterback found his freshman receiver seven times for 76 yards and a touchdown.
“Those guys are improving,” Armstrong said. “It seems like every week they get a little more comfortable and they’re improving and understanding varsity football.”
The downside to Swan and Rainbolt becoming more comfortable with one another is that Swan only completed two passes to someone other than Rainbolt.
“We’ve gotta make sure that the ball is spread around so that they can’t just focus in on Cole,” Armstrong said.
Conner Knudson recovered a fumble on Shenandoah’s last drive of the first half, setting the Eastern Hancock offense up with a chance to trim the deficit to one score.
That’s when the pick-six deflated the Royals and put a stop to the comeback attempt.
The Royals went three-and-out again to start the second half, and a tipped punt gave the Raiders the ball just 34 yards away from another touchdown. It took just a few plays for Shenandoah to score again, opening up a 34-8 lead.
An interception from running back and linebacker Dallas Pugsley ended the ensuing Eastern Hancock drive, allowing the visitors to eat up most of the rest of the third quarter.
“Shenandoah is the real deal,” Armstrong said. “They’ve got three backs and the quarterback that are as good as you’re going to find, really.”
Shenandoah started drives on Eastern Hancock’s side of the field five times in the game, taking advantage of the short field with touchdown after touchdown. The Raiders ran for 176 yards and passed for 116, out-gaining the Royals.
Eastern Hancock ran for 83 yards and passed for 83 yards in the loss.
Shenandoah (7-1, 2-0), now winners of seven straight, have defeated the Royals (3-5, 1-2) three straight years. The Royals, who have lost five of their last six games after opening the season 2-0, finish their regular season next week at home against Lapel.
“We are a really young team, but we have four or five seniors that this is their last chance,” Armstrong said. “We’re focusing on this year, and getting better. Hopefully we can do something in the sectional.”
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Eastern Hancock vs. Lapel, 7 p.m.
New Palestine vs. Delta, 7:30 p.m.
Mt. Vernon at Yorktown, 7:30 p.m.
Greenfield-Central vs. New Castle, 7:30 p.m.
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