Nick Grass came home.
Grass transferred from Crystal City to Herculaneum last year and the senior returned to Dr. J.J. Commerford Stadium a conquering hero with three touchdowns in the Blackcats’ 28-0 win over the Hornets in an I-55 Conference game on Friday night.
“A lot of people doubted me and I wanted to prove them wrong,” said Grass who had touchdown runs of 31, 1 and 14 yards as Herculaneum (1-6) won its first game of the season.
It was homecoming for Crystal City (0-7) which hasn’t won on the field since Sept. 2 of last year. The Hornets won by forfeit against Grandview last October. Head coach Terry Crump fielded 17 players against the Blackcats.
“We’re not very strong up front,” Crump said. “The teams we play are all bigger than we are. We’re not running the ball very well but we can throw the ball and we had a hard time doing that tonight.”
The Hornets started the game with an eight-play drive that reached the Herculaneum 36-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. It took the Blackcats seven plays to cover the 64 yards and Grass scored from 31 yards on third-and-15. The Blackcats were effective running the counter play.
“We have two (linemen Noah Northcutt and Lane Story) that pull and they kick out and I like to get to the outside and use my speed,” Grass said.
Junior Blake Leathers started in place of Ethan Coy at quarterback for the Blackcats and Leathers intercepted Herky QB Chris Eisenbeis with 2:31 left in the first quarter. After the turnover, Leathers guided the Blackcats to the Crystal 25 but the Hornets held firm and stopped them on fourth down.
“Blake did a great job,” Herculaneum head coach Dave Cook said. “We were a little worried because he hadn’t played there in awhile but he gives us a different dynamic.”
Cook was relieved to get his team into the win column.
“Our guys have been down,” he said. “It’s been a tough year. I always tell our players we’re a better football team than the way we’ve played. We lost the first game of the year (to Confluence Academy) 18-12 and the second game against Fredericktown we matched up well and had 370 yards of offense and lost. We played a much cleaner game tonight.”
Starting at its own 40 in the second quarter, Herky used 11 plays and 6:03 to move into position for a 1-yard TD plunge by Grass, who also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Blackcats a 14-0 lead.
“It’s special for him because he’s a Crystal guy,” Cook said of Grass. “He had a great touchdown last week against El Dorado Springs. We needed some depth at running back and he’s sure helped us out there.”
The Blackcats started at their own 26-yard line on the first series of the second half and Leathers gained 31 yards to help set up the third TD by Grass who scored from 14 yards with 6:46 left in the third. Austin Huson booted the extra point for a 21-0 lead.
When both teams started piling up 15 yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, the referees stopped the game, pulled the units on the field together and calmed them down. Crystal junior Griffin Morris was called for two unsportsmanlike penalties and will have to sit out the Hornets’ next game against St. Pius X.
Senior Chandler Jansen finished the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Leathers with 9:39 left in the game.
The Hornets tried to break the shutout and were helped by a facemask penalty and an 11-yard pass from Eisenbeis to junior Phillip Harrison, but a pass Eisenbeis threw on fourth down fell incomplete.
Eisenbeis is the heart and soul of the Hornets and with the lack of team depth, he plays offense, linebacker and on special teams.
“He’s solid and the kids respect him. He’s a leader,” Crump said.
Cook said it was the best game his defense played all season.
“We got pressure on the quarterback and we got an interception,” Cook said. “But we didn’t score on that turnover and we have to do that.”
Hawks clinch third straight conference title
Hillsboro (6-1) won its third straight Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division championship on Friday after beating visiting De Soto 34-19.
The Hawks built a 26-0 lead before the Dragons (3-4) got on the board in the fourth quarter. Five different Hillsboro players scored touchdowns. Senior running back Micheal Keller carried the ball 13 times for 113 yards and scored the game’s opening touchdown in the first quarter. On fourth-and-1, Keller ripped off a 25-yard run for a TD. The two-point conversion failed and the Hawks led 6-0.
The other Hawks to score were senior running back Joe Gregory on a 5-yard run; senior Joe Marschuetz caught a 29-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Tyler Isaacson; senior running back Joe Garner had an 8-yard scoring run; and senior running back Luke Skaggs ran to the end zone from two yards.
De Soto quarterback Briar Fischer threw three touchdowns to three different receivers: Clayton Snudden, Camron Krodinger and Logan Smith. After Snudden’s TD, the Dragons recovered the onside kick, which led to Krodinger’s score.
Other county football scores: Hazelwood West 23, Fox 21; Festus 35, Pacific 21; Jefferson 55, Springfield Central 34; North County 56, Windsor 10;
Herculaneum 28, Crystal City 0
Herculaneum 6 8 7 7 – 28
Crystal City 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
H: Nick Grass 31 run (kick failed), 3:40
Second quarter
H: Grass 1 run (Grass run), 1:53
Third quarter
H: Grass 14 run (Austin Huson kick), 6:46
Fourth quarter
H: Chandler Jansen 20 pass from Blake Leathers (Huson kick), 9:39