Rebels blanked
Hilton Head Christian 28, Thomas Heyward 0
bhughes@beaufortgaztte.com
843-986-5533
Luke Sirgo had revenge on his mind, but one look at the Thomas Heyward Academy sidelines told the story. Hilton Head Christian Academy was not playing the same Rebel team that blew out the Eagles last year.
Sirgo threw for 207 yards, threw two touchdowns and ran for another as Hilton Head Christian defeated an undermanned Thomas Heyward 28-0 in the SCISAA Region 2-AA opener for both teams.
"I think we just felt it," Sirgo said. "We were all pumped. Last year, they kind of ran us over and we wanted to take it back to them."
Thomas Heyward came into the game with 18 players dressed and it went downhill for coach Mike Tuten early.
Starting quarterback/cornerback JA Malphrus and starting guard/linebacker Drew Moser got hurt in the first half.
"It's makes it hard to rebound," Tuten said of the low numbers. "When you get two more hurt, there's nothing you can do. What we said could not happen is in fact happening."
Hilton Head Christian (1-1, 1-0 region) took advantage of Thomas Heyward's depleted squad by taking to the air.
Lewis, who admitted he was conservative with his play-calling in the season opener, showed more trust in Sirgo by letting his sophomore quarterback come out throwing the ball.
"I think it was me more than anything having confidence in Luke to run the offense," Lewis said.
Sirgo's first pass was a 32-yard strike to Joey Davis. He finished the Eagles' first drive with a 4-yard pass to Zac Lenns for an early 7-0 lead. Sirgo completed his first eight passes, finishing the night 10-of-15 for 207 yards.
Sirgo didn't have to do too much though for the Eagles' second touchdown. He hit Mark McDevitt on a short pass and watched the senior dodge a couple of Rebel defenders as he sprinted 65 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown.
Despite the injuries, Thomas Heyward (0-2, 0-1) forced a couple of stops. Logan Mock's interception late in the second quarter provided the Rebels with some much needed momentum that wouldn't last long.
James Berl picked off a pass from JA Malphrus, who had re-entered the game after his injury. Sirgo made the interception count with a 28-yard scamper on an option play to make it 21-0 and essentially crush the Rebels' chances of a comeback.
"We don't score there and go up by three touchdowns then it's an entirely different second half," Lewis said.
Eric Farr provided the final score with a 1-yard run in the third quarter.
Malphrus played in the third quarter until re-injuring his knee. The sophomore didn't return after that. Running back Perry Pender stepped into Malphrus' role and led the Rebel offense with 80 yards on 18 carries.
Hilton Head Christian hosts region foe First Baptist at 7 p.m. next Friday while Thomas Heyward plays at Beaufort Academy at 7:30 p.m.
Thomas Heyward 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Hilton Head Christian 7 14 7 0 -- 28
First Quarter
HHCA--Zac Lenns 4 pass from Luke Sirgo (Mark McDevitt kick), 7:59.
Second Quarter
HHCA--McDevitt 65 pass from Sirgo (McDevitt kick), 5:52.
HHCA--Sirgo 28 run (McDevitt kick), 0:20.
Third Quarter
HHCA--Eric Farr 1 run (McDevitt kick), 8:15.
| THA | HHCA | |
| First downs | 7 | 9 |
| Rush | 7 | 7 |
| Pass | 0 | 1 |
| Pen. | 0 | 1 |
| Rushes-yards | 30-89 | 25-56 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 1-7-2 | 10-15-1 |
| Passing yards | 7 | 207 |
| Return yards | 77 | 50 |
| Punts-Avg. | 5-33.4 | 4-37.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 4-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 4-25 | 4-35 |
| Third-down conv. | 1-9 | 4-10 |
| Fourth-down conv. | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| Time of Possession | 25:42 | 22:18 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Thomas Heyward, Perry Pender 18-80, JA Malphrus 5-7, Logan Mock 3-2, Jeremy Tindal 3-0. Hilton Head Christian Academy, Eric Farr 11-6, Zac Lenns 6-8, Luke Sirgo 4-31, Shea Watkins 3-4, Joey Davis 1-7.
PASSING--Thomas Heyward, Malphrus 1-5-2 7, Pender 0-2. Hilton Head Christian Academy, Sirgo 10-15-1 207.
RECEIVING--Thomas Heyward, Pender 1-7. Hilton Head Christian Academy, Davis 3-61, Lenns 3-28, Mark McDevitt 2-76, Ethan Gort 2-42.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--None.