Junior Hornets shut out Cross County 34-0

By COSMO COSSEY

Sports Connection Team

The Harrisburg Junior Hornets (1-0) opened their season with a 34-0 shutout of rival Cross County in junior high football action this past Thursday in Harrisburg.

The Junior Hornets came up big on their first possession stopping Cross County on downs to take over at their own 36-yard line with 3:56 left in the first quarter. Harrisburg couldn’t get much going on their first possession and they had to punt.

Cross County punted the ball back to the Junior Hornets as the quarter ended with Harrisburg in possession at their own 43-yard line.

Harrisburg couldn’t do much on their possession as they turned the ball over on downs only to get the ball back when Tiya Ansley intercepted a Junior Thunderbird pass and returned it to the Cross County 17-yard line with 3:27 left. The Junior Hornets capitalized on the turnover as Cole New found Justin McMiller out in the flat with a short pass that turned into a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 6-0 with 2:06 left. McMiller added the two-point conversion run to make it 8-0 Junior Hornets.

Cross County had a touchdown negated by a penalty with just over a minute left before being stopped at the Harrisburg nine-yard line. The first half came to a close with Harrisburg leading 8-0.

The Junior Hornets got the ball to start the second half returning the kick-off to their own 49-yard line. Harrisburg struck quickly as New found McMiller for a 51-yard touchdown pass making it 14-0. The two-point conversion pass was no good with 6:31 left.

The Junior Thunderbirds turned the ball over on downs on their next possession and Harrisburg took over at the Cross County 46-yard line with 3:01 left. McMiller had a big run to the 13-yard line before Logan Rust covered the last 13 yards, on a run, to make the score 20-0 Junior Hornets with 1:20 left in the quarter. The two-point pass play was incomplete.

Harrisburg’s defense came up big as Cross County put the ball on the ground and Adam Morgan scooped the ball up and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. This increased Harrisburg’s lead to 26-0 with 48 seconds left. The two-point conversion fell incomplete for the Junior Hornets.

Cross County had to punt the ball away on their possession from the third quarter with the ball being downed on the Harrisburg 25-yard line with 5:59 left. The Junior Hornets struck quickly once again as New hit Ansley with a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play to push the Harrisburg lead to 32-0 with 5:22 left. Rust added the two-point conversion run to make it 34-0 Junior Hornets.

Cross County fumbled on their next possession with Drayson Richardson recovering for Harrisburg at the 35-yard line with 3:13 left in the game. The Junior Hornets ran the clock out to take the win.

“This group has been a great group since I got here. You tell them to do and they do it and they work hard every day,” Harrisburg head coach Austin Jarrett said after the game. “They’ve put in so much work and this group has earned the success they had on the field tonight,” Jarrett added.

New completed four of seven passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns while adding 23 yards rushing for the Junior Hornets. McMiller had three catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns and five carries for 50 yards on the ground. Rust added 22 yards on four carries with a touchdown. Ansley had an interception for the Hornets’ defense and Richardson recovered a fumble.