Hawks fall 6-3 vs. West
HARDIN VALLEY — Penalties, turnovers and other mistakes cost the Hardin Valley Academy football team a victory in its home opener Friday night, Aug. 25, and all those factors left Hawks head coach Wes Jones visibly frustrated.
“We just didn’t play well,” Jones said after HVA came up on the short end of a 6-3 decision against West High. “We had mistakes all over the place. We had too many penalties and we had three turnovers. You’re not going to beat anybody when you play like this.”
Hardin Valley [0-2] engineered three long drives in the first half, but could only muster a 35-yard field goal by Josaiah Lambert with 4 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Hardin Valley’s defense kept the Rebels [1-1] in check before halftime, holding them to just four yards of total offense and no first downs over the first 24 minutes.
The Hawks also came up big on special teams as sophomore Cameron York blocked a punt and Elijah Richardson recovered the ball on West’s 4-yard line.
But HVA couldn’t cash in as Aaron Dykes lost a fumble on the next play.
The Rebels finally got on the board on the final play of the third quarter. Senior kicker Logan Bowers tied the game at 3-3 with a 22-yard field goal.
Hardin Valley, which fumbled on its first possession of the second half and was victimized by an interception later in the game, couldn’t score despite starting three drives near midfield.
The Rebels, however, had no such troubles. West scored the eventual winning field goal with 2:12 left in the game when Bowers converted from 45 yards.
