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Hough’s undefeated season ends with loss to Vance in 4AA playoffs



Vance’s Jalen Swindell sacks Hough quarterback Tad Hudson Friday, April 23. /Doug Coats

CORNELIUS – Hough had overcome the absence of players who were supposed to be there all season long with relative ease, but in the second half against Vance, that trend reached the point of toppling the tower.

The Huskies lost 24-10 Friday to reigning state champion Vance in the second round of the 4AA playoffs, just two weeks after  beating the Cougars to win the I-Meck conference championship. It was their first loss of the shortened spring 2021 season during which five players enrolled into their colleges early and another opted out.

Things begun to spiral out of control following a missed long field goal down 17-7 in the third quarter. That’s when the 10-point deficit appeared much deeper when defensive tackle Curts Neal was helped off the field from an injury. Hough head coach Matt Jenkins said the Vance players were illegally blocking him throughout the game.

“Curtis was getting high-low’d, chopped all night,” Jenkins said. “If he’s hurt seriously because we couldn’t make a call, we’ve got an issue.”

After freshman kicker Logan Hauser missed only his second of the season, the Hough coaching staff – as well as former NFL tight end Greg Olsen, brother of offensive coordinator Kevin – was quick to breach the sideline to voice their collective displeasure over a Vance player jumping over the center, but a call was not made. 

Then among several players getting cramps, fellow Division 1 recruit and leading tackler Da’Shawn Davis was carried off the field fireman-style by Athletic Director Masanori Toguchi

For senior defensive end Julian Rawlins, he lost two of his brothers up front, a unit that had been paramount to the team’s success all year. The Huskies had only allowed 10.9 points per game coming into the contest.

“We really felt that one,” said Rawlins, a Davidson College signee. “We were telling the second string, ‘This is your time to shine.’ They stepped up, went in there and held their ground, we just couldn’t pull it out at the end.”

Hough Athletic Director Masanori Toguchi carries defensive lineman Da’Shawn Davis off the field due to cramps in the Huskies’ loss to Vance Friday, April 23. /Doug Coats

Hough cut it to 17-10 with a 20-yard field goal just before the third quarter ended, and after the defense held Vance to a 3-and-out after interception, the Cougars took advantage of the less-experienced version of the Huskies’ defense. They got a first down from a screen play, then found the end zone after a long catch and run, as Hough appeared more preoccupied with stripping the ball than tackling.

Special teams played a big role in Hough’s wins over Vance April 9 and Green Hope the next week. It was the Cougars who came up the biggest play in that phase of the game, though. In the first play of the second quarter, Hough had fourth and 28 from their 1, and Vance blocked the Cole Maynard punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

Hough scored the game’s first touchdown when quarterback Tad Hudson hit Jacquon Gibson in stride at the goal line to take the lead with 8 minutes left in the second. The Huskies trailed 10-7 on the final drive of the half, and got into the edge of Hauser’s range. But time ran out after a receiver ran to the middle of the field instead of out of bounds. 

Hough running back Elijah McWilliams had some explosive, purposeful runs in the second half to inject some excitement into the sidelines. The offense faced intense pressure from Vance’s massive defensive front, sacking Hudson often on third downs. Jenkins said his sophomore quarterback handled it as well as he could.

“They were in his face all night,” Jenkins said. “I thought he held his composure well. He had his two picks, an under-thrown one, and took a shot on the other and the kid didn’t quite get out there.”

Hudson worked with a different center in the fourth, when starter Carter Knudtson left due to injury.

Had the season been played in the fall, the Hough roster would’ve looked much different, with early enrollments from a running back at Ohio State, and defensive backs at N.C. State, Colorado and Louisville. 

Jenkins hopes his plates realized the scope of what they accomplished this season.

“I was proud of them,” he said. “This program lost 14 Division 1 football players, to do what we did, no one else in the city did that. For them to overcome what they did, and accomplish what they did, I’m as proud as I’ve ever been of a football team.”

Vance’s shot at repeating as 4AA state champions stays alive, also missing a would-be senior to college, again going through a conference foe to do so. In 2019, the Cougars finished third in the I-Meck, but avenged a regular-season loss to Mallard Creek in the second round.

Since Rawlins will be just a few miles away for college, he plans on being back on the sidelines watching his former teammates next fall.

“All these boys are family,” Rawlins said. “The season is over, but the relationships aren’t. This is one of the better seasons (at the school), now we’re just going to move onto bigger and better things.”

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