ROCKTON - The game featured eight fumbles, 13 penalties and a combined 18 yards passing.
On a ragged opening night Friday, Hononegah coach Tim Sughroue was just glad to get out with a win, after the Indians took control late in a 41-14 win over Belvidere.
“I expected a few of those kinds of things in the first game, but that was way too many,” Sughroue said. “But Belvidere is a great program, and no matter how you win against them, it’s a good win.”
Three Indians rushed for more than 90 yards, led by fullback Brett McWilliams with 104, and Hononegah outscored Belvidere 20-0 in the second half.
Belvidere quarterback Tiras Harris rushed for 156 yards, 131 of them in the first half, but the Bucs couldn’t finish the deal after tying the game at 14-all late in the second quarter.
“We proved some things early on. We showed that we weren’t just going to lay down,” said Harris, who had a 54-yard traversing run on his third carry of the night. “That second half was tough. Any loss is tough.”
Harris tried to single-handedy spoil Hononegah’s home opener with a stellar first half that had the Bucs within striking distance. But despite the senior’s jukes, high-steps and change-of-direction moves that left Indians grasping at air, it wasn’t enough.
Hononegah’s deep backfield made sure of that. Tyler Tucek rushed for 91 yards with three touchdowns, all coming on his first four carries.
“I made mistakes; we all made mistakes tonight. That’s Week 1 for you,” said Tucek, who averaged almost 23 yards per carry. “But all of those offseason workouts and all that running paid off in the second half. We needed this win, and we weren’t going to give it away.”
The motion-sweep worked for Tucek and Brian Bean all night as the pair combined for 169 yards on nine carries on that play alone.
Belvidere, known for its power-running game out of the wishbone, tried to rally by running its offense out of a shotgun, two-wideout formation early in the second half. It didn’t pan out as the Bucs gained just 43 yards in the second half.
- Jay Taft, rrstar.com
