By W. Patrick Queen
Sports Writer
When it comes to away games on a football schedule, it is a bit like packing up the family and going on vacation. Though the trip may be fun, the destination and the time spent away may not be as wonderful as expected. The Hayesville High School Yellow Jackets put forth a great deal of effort this past Friday night as they traveled over the mountain to Waynesville, N.C. to take on the Mountaineers of Tuscola High.
Though the first quarter was a bit of an uneventful tug-of -war as each team tried to establish dominance over the other, it was a 0 tie as the second quarter began.
Both teams seemed to find some momentum as they traded touchdowns. The Mountaineers made use of their running game while Logan Caldwell and the Yellow Jacket receivers worked the ball into the end zone for two touchdowns in the second quarter. With under a minute to go in the second quarter, the score was Mountaineers, 20 and the Yellow Jackets sticking close with 14 points on the scoreboard.
"I was proud of the effort shown by our guys once again," said Coach Chad McClure. "We were able to move the ball at times and played better defense early; however, field position really hurt us the whole game as we gave them a short field on too many occasions."
Asked about the Yellow Jackets ground game, McClure responded, "We had 18 carries for a total of 8 yards, so our run game was very anemic. Overall, we moved the ball well through the air, but we were never able to establish our run game."
Unfortunately, the same was not true for the Mountaineers who had a total of 459 yards for the game with 258 yards coming on the ground. The third quarter saw some scoring on the part of Tuscola High and with just a little over nine minutes left in the game, the score stood 39-14 with the Mountaineers holding a commanding lead. Each team was able to put one more touchdown on the board as the final score read, Tuscola Mountaineers, 46 and the Yellow Jackets, 21.
It was a solid team effort, but once again, kudos are in order for Logan Caldwell, whose stellar performance of 21 for 29 completions, 377 yards through the air, accounted for all three of the Yellow Jackets touchdowns. Catching two of those passes for TD's was Taylor McClure with eight receptions, one that went for 80 yards.
Senior wide receiver Jake McTaggart also had eight catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, 32 of the 56 tackles made were solo tackles led by Isaac Chandler with six, Kyle Lunsford contributed six and McClure and McTaggart added nine and six, respectively. Also getting in on the solo tackles was Bryan Davenport with six and a great interception that cut down another Mountaineer drive in progress.
This week back on the road again as the Hayesville High Yellow Jackets head south to Sugar Hill, Ga., to take on the Georgia Force Christian School Blue Knights. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Hopefully, this week's great effort will bring home a win and be worth the trip.