Starters and subs did well for Storm

Sunday, November 09, 2008

On Senior Night, fans typically get one last shot to witness the talents of a team’s best players, but at Hopkins County Central the underclassmen may have upstaged the veterans.

After taking a 28-0 lead into halftime, many of the Storm back-ups entered in the second half to finish off the Hancock County Hornets on Friday night and did not miss a beat.

“Those kids had a real good junior varsity season and they run scout team against our No. 1 defense every day in practice, so they get a lot of work,” coach Rick Snodgrass said. “We expect good things out of those guys.”

Quarterback Jesse Almon ran the offense in the game’s final 24 minutes, taking over for second-stringer Luke Crawley, who conducted the Storm offense smoothly in the first half.

Both Almon and Crawley finished the evening 3-for-5 passing; Almon netted 53 yards through the air to Crawley’s 27, but Crawley had one touchdown pass.

“I thought both quarterbacks came in and did a pretty good job for us,” Snodgrass said.

Joining Almon in the backfield during the second half was sophomore running back Jaylon McCoy.

The speedster McCoy caught two of Almon’s passes for 23 yards and had nine carries for 89 yards and two touchdowns.

“I thought Jaylon came in and gave us a big lift,” Snodgrass said. “McCoy has a lot of talent. He’s a physical runner and he gives our defense fits a lot of times in practice.”

Snodgrass also noted the exceptional play of Micah Rorer and Tyrone Glorioso.

“Micah Rorer is going to be a good player for us,” he said. “We started Tyrone Glorioso at corner and he’s a sophomore. He played a lot with the No. 1’s at corner and did a good job, so we really have some guys that stepped in.

“We’ve been working them in and out of the lineup some, but right now at this point in the season, we need everybody we can get on the field to help us out in certain situations.”

Although Rorer, a running back, did not have any carries, he helped guard against the rush and made an ESPN “Top Play”-esque catch as time winded down in the third quarter.

On third-and-six, from the Hornet 40-yard line, Almon dropped back to pass and threw one up to Rorer by the near sideline, who leapt, hauled the ball in and placed his feet just inside the field of play for a 30-yard gain.

The play resulted in a first-and-goal for the Storm and kicker Carlos Diaz converted on a 24-yard field goal to put Central ahead 45-0.

The kicking duo of Diaz and Wesley Ipock was another area that impressed Snodgrass.

“Wesley was good, 7-for-7 (on point-after attempts) and we made a field goal,” Snodgrass said. “We really hated to kick that field goal, we were up on them, but we needed the practice and Carlos needed some experience and some confidence and that was good for us.”

With the 52-0 win, Central’s defense notched its fourth shutout of the season, but during the first quarter that goal didn’t appear likely when Hancock County moved the ball easily down field.

“The first drive they kind of got us a couple times,” Snodgrass said. “We missed a couple tackles, blew a couple of assignments.”

After a pass interference call, the Hornets had first-and-goal from the 4-yard line, but the Storm defenders were up for the task. Hancock quarterback Zach Wettstain gained a yard on a first-down keeper, but his team lost yardage on the next two plays and eventually turned the ball over on downs at the 18-yard line.

“The defense kind of bowed its neck up a little bit and got some stops and didn’t let them in the endzone,” Snodgrass said. “We continued to play defense and forced some turnovers, blocked some punts and I thought our young guys in the second half did a good job defensively, so it was a good effort all the way around.”

Now, heading into the playoffs, Snodgrass said he’s happy to see all of his players performing well, the first-string as well as reserves.

“It’s a big plus for us,” he said. “It helps to know that you have guys that can step in and contribute if somebody goes down or if somebody has to come out for a play or two for a breather. We know we have some guys that can step in and get the job done.”