Belfast’s Garren Horne returns a punt 80 yards and sends Leavitt reeling.
BELFAST – As quickly as Garren Horne sprinted down the sidelines, the Leavitt football team’s hopes evaporated Friday night.
When Belfast’s junior punt returner burst down the right sideline for an 80-yard touchdown run, the Hornets’ fate was pretty much sealed. Leavitt watched a close 8-0 game balloon to a 16-0 deficit, and Belfast went on to secure a 30-6 Eastern Class B victory.
“That was the backbreaker,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “Our plan was to really not kick the ball to him. We wanted to try to kick it out of bounds or pin it close to the sidelines. He cuts it back all the way across the field. We have a pretty quick guy on contain over there, and he outruns him.”
The score with 3:44 left in the third quarter took the steam out of the Hornets (2-4). Belfast (5-1) stopped Leavitt on its next possession, took advantage of a short punt and scored again by quarter’s end for a 22-0 lead.
“We were concerned about them up front and their linebackers,” said Belfast coach Butch Arthers. “We had some trouble doing exactly what we wanted to do at times. When Garren broke that punt, it kind of lifted everybody, and the next possession we were kind of keyed up another notch. We challenged them to move the ball again, and they did.”
Josh Aldus capped off the late third-quarter drive with a six-yard run. He finished with 120 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.
Belfast was hampered by losing starting quarterback Nick Arthers in the first half. He had just returned after missing two weeks with a shoulder injury. He hurt his back in the second quarter and did not return. Though sophomore Andy Whalen came in and did a fine job running the show, it took some time for Belfast to adjust.
“The stuff we do offensively, the quarterback is very involved in our running game,” said Arthers. “That’s tough for a sophomore.”
When Belfast’s offense got rolling again in the fourth, the Hornets couldn’t keep pace. Leavitt was forced to throw the ball and take chances the rest of the way.
The Hornets did get a Tyler Poland 21-yard scamper with 8:41 left in the game, but Aldus added another score with 7:42 left, a 21-yard run.
“That was kind of it,” said Hathaway of the first Aldus score. “We had to sit back and pass when we got down three scores. They knew that. They’re pining their ears back and coming at us, and that makes it difficult.”
Leavitt had hung tough with Belfast for much of the first three quarters. The Hornets were plagued by penalties (75 yards) and four fumbles, one of which they lost.
An injury in the first half to Chad Schrepper didn’t help the cause. He returned in the second half but saw limited action offensively. Poland led the Hornets with 65 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Dustin Gilbert threw for 80 yards on eight completions.
The Hornets, however, couldn’t cash in offensively when they had their chances. Belfast opened the scoring with 10:52 left in the second quarter when Arthers scampered around the left side for a six-yard run.
Down 8-0, Leavitt came right back and got as close as the 11, but a fumble squelched that opportunity.
Early in the third quarter, a Brandon Hinkley interception gave the Hornets a chance, but the offense fell a yard shy of the first down, forcing them to punt after just three plays.
“We just couldn’t be consistent every play,” said Hathaway. “We had some plays where we’d be great and we’d have other plays where we’d be very mediocre. We put the ball on the ground a couple of times. We had a couple of penalties. That’s football. You’ve got to limit that stuff if you expect to win games. They limited them more than we did.”
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