VEEDERSBURG — Eastern Hancock came out throwing early and often against the Fountain Central on its way to a 48-14 victory.
Sophomore quarterback Houston Swan picked apart the Mustangs’ defense to the tune of 245 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter. He opened the game with a 53-yard touchdown pass to Landon O’Neal and later found J.P. Fuchs on a 10-yarder and then hit O’Neal on a 24-yard pass. In the opening 24 minutes of play he completed 14-of-17 passes for his 245 yards.
“He took a lot of bumps as a freshman last year,” Eastern Hancock coach Doug Armstrong said. “He learned a lot last year and is off to a great start to the season so far.”
A NEW LOOK
Last year the Royals (3-0) were a running team and this new-look was something of a surprise for the Mustangs.
“Last year they were a power running team,” Fountain Central coach Ryan Hall said. “We got the tapes this year and they are throwing the ball all over the field. We wondered if this was even the same team. They are very good at it and they will cause a lot of teams trouble.”
Fountain Central tried putting pressure on Swan early on and forced an interception by Seth martin before he completed eight of his final nine attempts as he did not see any action in the second half.
The no-huddle offense was working on all cylinders for the Royals in the first half as it accumulated 313 yards in total offense on just 22 plays.
A LEARNING LESSON
While Eastern Hancock was providing plenty of trouble for the Mustangs, the team also hurt itself in the first half.
Following the first Royals’ touchdown the Mustangs gave up an 88-yard punt return to Cole Rainbolt and then on their next possession the snap went over the punter’s head and gave the visitors the ball on the 21 yard line.
“We knew they were a very good team,” Hall said, “But I never expected to give up 48 points in the first half. However, we contributed to some of that. We made some critical mistakes early and a team like that will make you pay for it and they did. “
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
At halftime trailing 48-6, Hall and the coaching staff challenged the team.
“We told them to dig deep and not give up and I don’t think anyone did,” he said. “We did some nice things. I know it was against the reserves but we played hard right to the end.”
And that was important for this young team which is now 0-3, the first time since 2002 a Fountain Central team has started with three straight losses.
“We are young and we want to get better,” Hall said. “I can’t tell you what our record will be but these kids are working so hard and we see improvement each day and that is what we are after.”
Fountain central ended the game with 226 yards on the ground and did not attempt a pass. Senior Gabe Riley led the team with 93 yards on 15 carries and scored all 14 point for the Mustangs. Quarterback Seth Martin added 88 yards on 18 carries.
Fountain Central will battle arch-rival Covington next week. Eastern Hancock, who is 3-0 for the first time since 2015, will battle Heritage Christian who beat them twice last year.
Eastern Hancock 48, Fountain Central 14
Eastern Hancock 16 32 0 0 — 48
Fountain Central 0 6 0 8 — 14
First Quarter
EH – Houston Swan 53 yard pass to Landon O’Neal (Swan to Cole Rainbolt), 7:42
EH – Rainbolt 88 yard punt return (Swan pass to J.P. Fuch), 1:45
Second Quarter
EH – Swan 10 yard pass to Fuchs (Victor Olivo run), 10:46
FC – Gabe Riley 2 yard run (run failed), 8:52
EH – Olivo 1 yard run (Olivo run), 7:10
EH – Olivo 40 yard run (Olivo run), 4:47
EH – Swan 24 yard pass to O’Neal (Olivo run), 1:50
Fourth Quarter
FC – Riley 40 yard run (Riley run), 10:56
Team Stats
EH FC
First Downs 15 10
Rushes-Yards18-161 45-226
Passing Yards 245 0
Com-Att-Int 14-18-10-0-0
Total Yards 406 226
Fumbles-Lost1-1 2-0
Penalties-Yards 7-81 3-15
Individual Stats
RUSHING – Eastern Hancock, Olivo 5-69, White 10-82, Speer 3-11; Fountain Central, Pickett 9-54, McCarthy 1-4, Alexander 1-2, Martin 18-88, Riley 15-93, Team 1-(21), Groff 1-10.
PASSING – Eastern Hancock, Swan 14-17-1 245, Sotelo 0-1-0 0; Fountain Central, none
RECEIVING – Eastern Hancock, O’Neal 5-109, Fuchs 3-91, Rainbolt 3-39, Olivo 1-3, Settrgren 1-2; Fountain Central, none
