Hawks ‘great’ not good enough
KNOXVILLE — A defensive effort labeled “great” by Hardin Valley Academy head coach
Wes Jones still wasn’t good enough for a Hawks victory.
West, perennial Class 5A powerhouse, rallied from a 10-3 fourth-quarter deficit to win 17-10 in both teams’ season openers at the Runnin’ Rebels’ Bill Wilson Field Friday evening, Aug. 19.
“One of their scores was on a broken play,” Jones said. “We had a breakdown and they made a long pass play and was able to convert.
“… We gave up some big plays. West wasn’t able to put together sustained drives against us,” Jones added.
Nevertheless, “Our defense did a fantastic job,” Jones said. “Tim Frizzell and Rook Landers [linebackers] played really well on the defensive side of the ball.
“The biggest thing in the game was our inability to convert in the red zone,” the HVA coach added. “We had the ball several times in good scoring position but just didn’t put the ball in the end zone.”
Making matters worse, “We missed two field goals,” Jones said, although adding, “With our punt team and our coverage game I felt like we did a good job.”
The offense did start well. “In the first quarter we came out and moved the ball pretty effectively,” Jones said. “But we didn’t execute well on the offensive side of the ball for the final three quarters.”
Aaron Dykes’ 3-yard touchdown run was Hardin Valley’s only TD of the game. Andrew Foster added a 31-yard field goal.
