Prior to the team's showdown with Elgin, Heritage Hall put much emphasis on quality practice time.

With the Owls coming off of a 75 point outing versus Newcastle, the Chargers were well aware of the potential challenges they would face shutting down the soaring Elgin offense. The Hall, however, used the doubters' banter as motivation and turned in a sharp week of practice. The key for the Chargers was in stopping senior running back Lewis Shepherd, who had torched opposing defenses, including a 300-plus 7 touchdown night against Newcastle in Week 6. The Charger defense was out to make a statement, which is exactly what they did Friday night at Pop Murray Memorial Field.

From the opening kickoff, it was apparent the Chargers flat-out wanted victory more than the Owls. Heritage Hall played near perfect defense, as they made all the right reads and swarmed to the ball to quiet the Elgin attack early.

The offense arguably played its best game of the year as well, as Blake Adams started the fireworks with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chandler Shapard. Adams wasn't done, as he later found Conner Carey from 36-yards out to give the Hall a two-score lead and cement the his place as the most prolific passer in school history, eclipsing Graham Colton '00 for the honor.

After another Charger defensive stop, the offense produced perhaps the highlight of the night. Adams completed a quick out to Chandler Shapard, who lateraled the ball to Billy Ross, Jr., for what goes down officially as a 44-yard rushing touchdown. The "hook and ladder" play worked to perfection for the Chargers, and it gave them a 21-0 lead after just one quarter of play.

As the second quarter began, Ross continued to amaze with a 67-yard scamper to the end zone. Ross has been the Chargers most explosive offensive weapon this year and it was apparent the Owls had no answer for him.

The Chargers defense continued to compliment the offense, as Elgin couldn't get its highly touted run game going. Chandler Shapard continued to light up the Owl secondary as he caught two more touchdowns from 31 and 10 yards out. As this game entered half, the score was nowhere close, as the Hall led by an impressive 41-0.

The second half was not nearly as exciting, as only one more score ensued. This touchdown came in the third quarter when Ross recorded a 35-yard house call to end the scoring on the night.

The rest of the evening was dominated by the defenses. Elgin had no problem stopping the Charger reserves. The most dramatic moments of the second half came in the final minute when the Chargers defense held kept the threatening Owls off the scoreboard until the final ticks had passed. When it was all said and done, the Chargers remained unblemished in the game and for the season, posting a 48-0 victory.

Adams had another extremely impressive outing, finishing 18 of 24 passing with 229 yards and 4 touchdowns. Backup Quarterbacks Landon Lahodny and Robert Mbroh combined to go 2 for 2 on pass attempts with Lahodny running the offense for the bulk of the snaps while Mbroh saw his first action since rehabbing an early season injury. Ross continued to excel, rushing for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns. Shapard led the receivers with 9 catches for 143 yards and 3 scores. On defense, Jaden McDaniel had a very impressive first game back from injury, notching 10 tackles, including 2 for loss and one strip sack. Phillip Smitherman had 9 tackles and a jaw-dropping one-handed interception that got the crowd on their feet and the bench fired up.

The Chargers came into Friday night's game extremely focused and well-prepared, cruising to another commanding victory. The Charger defense was the story of the night, as it completed its first shutout of the year. The defense will most definitely be the key to a win this weekend as Newcastle boasts a very talented offense headed by Texas-commit Casey Thompson.

Same song, second verse...with another great week of preparation and preparedness, the Chargers will look to slow down the Racers and stay undefeated. Onward, Chargers!

Article by Rives Mitchell '19
Photos by Jake Steelman '19 / More on Flickr