ASHLAND, Ore – On Friday night the Henley Hornets 3-0 (1-0) beat the Ashland Grizzlies 1-2 (0-1) 48-19 to earn their first Big Sky Conference win.
The Hornets wasted no time putting up points as they engineered a four-play 60-yard drive capped off with a Shaw Stork touchdown pass from 31 yards out. Henley kept the pressure on the Grizzlies when they forced a fumble recovered by junior Thomas Bocchi. The Hornets scored again when Luke Bennett caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Stork. The extra point was blocked and Henley led 13-0.
The Hornets never let up scoring. Shaw Stork ran in a keeper from 55 yards out in the first quarter and Logan Whitlock added a score in the second quarter from four yards out. The game was already looking out of hand when Mark Carpenter picked off a pass from Ashland’s sophomore quarterback JoJo Harrower and took it to the house. By halftime, the Hornets had all but secured victory leading 40-7. Harrower connected with Aariq Shadoan late in the half for a score. The sophomore would finish with 289 passing yards and three touchdowns.
The game got a bit chippy in the third quarter after a fumble as Ashland’s Noah Shrader began shoving Luke Bennett. The officials worked quickly to separate the athletes and would eject Shrader from the contest. Later in the quarter, the officials had the team captains meet at the line of scrimmage to shake hands and the beef was put to rest.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Hornets escaped hostile territory with a league win.
“It was an awesome game. Our line came out and showed out,” said Owen Northcutt. “It was a fun game to play in. It was the best first league game you could ask for.”
The Hornets play a non-league opponent next week in the Cascade Cougars.
“We are thinking about it all week. You always got to think a week ahead,” said Northcutt.
HENLEY 20 20 8 0
ASHLAND 0 7 6 6
