News and Announcements
Posted: 2006-09-30
GAME SUMMARY: Varsity vs. South Lyon
VARSITY: Hartland 6, South Lyon 28
By David Lee
Hartland traveled to South Lyon Friday night in search of their first KVC win of the season. The only problem was that South Lyon was already 3-0 in the KVC and ranked 14th in the STATE. However, that didn't seem to dampen the Hartland sidelines. I overheard a number of players in pre-game and through the first half being very optimistic. Kind of like an "any given Friday night" attitude where they know they were the underdogs but just wanted to go out there and kick some butt and have fun doing it.
For the most part, Hartland did just that. Our defense did a great job in the first half — forcing South Lyon to punt on a couple of drives. Then when we got on the scoreboard it all of a sudden looked like this could be a game.
Hartland drove down inside the 5 yard line on two occasions, but came up short. If we could've converted on those two opportunities — then you're looking at a 21-28 ball game with momentum. I know... would've, could've, should've. It's the scoreboard at 0:00 that matters.
One thing is for sure. South Lyon's bigger, faster players wore us down. When their huge running backs cleared the line into the secondary, they were very hard to bring down in the open field. Some of our two-way starters were tired while South Lyon's roster of 70+ players appeared fresh and well-conditioned. That led to assignment break-downs on both sides of the ball for Hartland. But, as one player said it at the end of the game, "we left it all out on the field" — meaning they physically gave it their all and had nothing left in the end. I agree.
Hartland must now focus on Pinckney. Both teams are winless in the KVC and 1-4 overall. Last week Pinckney put-up 27 points against South Lyon's tough defense. Pinckney also wants to even the seesaw win-lose matches with Hartland — last year Hartland won 14-13, so Pinckney's thinking it's their turn for victory. This game between the KVC's basement teams is not expected to be a yawner by any stretch of the imagination. Kickoff at 7:00pm on Friday (Sept. 29) in Hartland. See you there!