Football blasts McLoud to get back on track

Heritage Hall faced the McLoud Redskins to open District play and close out a season-opening 4-game road trip. Following a tough loss to John Marshall in Week 3, the Chargers went into the night ready for redemption and used that fire within to their advantage.

Despite multiple starters sitting out to rest minor injuries, the offense started off fast and explosive. Sophomore tailback River Faulkner ran for 25 yards up the sideline to get a touchdown and put his team up 7-0 early.

Meanwhile, the Chargers continued to dominate on defense, keeping the Redskins reeling and on their heels.

Faulkner continued to carry the load offensively as he quickly ran 9 yards to get another Chargers touchdown.

The Hall continued to stretch their lead and Gavin Freeman was a force to be reckoned with his speed and agility. Freeman caught a pass from junior William Paque and took it 60 yards to the house to put the Chargers to 21-0.

Paque, who stepped in for resting starter Robert Mbroh, showed why he might lead the next generation of the historic charger offense.

To end the first quarter, Faulkner busted loose on a 59-yard touchdown run to put the Hall out of reach at 28-0.

Defensively, the Chargers swarmed the Redskins on series after series. Going into half, The Hall maintained a 28-0 lead, but knew that they needed to stay "humble and hungry" to score a victory. This season, Heritage Hall players adopted the motto "humble and hungry" and aim to use it to motivate themselves not only on the field, but in the classroom and in life.

The third quarter was a historic one for the Charger offense. The Hall came out of halftime with the drive and mindset to finish what they had started in the first. Paque and Freeman connected again, this time on a 95 yard pass from Paque to tie a school record for longest touchdown catch (Jobe to Smitherman for 95 yards, 2019 at Bridge Creek). The touchdown catch also extended the lead to 35-0.

The Redskins scored on a 2 yard run following a long pass and converted the 2-point attempt to stop the bleeding, but it was too little too late.

The fourth quarter played out quickly and without any scoring by either squad, resulting in a decisive 35-8 win for the Chargers.

Paque led the air raid for the Chargers, racking up 288 yards on 9 of 15 passing, including the two touchdown tosses. Freeman snagged 4 catches for 184 yars and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore Orie Walker continued his breakout season with 5 catches for 104 yards.

Faulkner got the bulk of the carries in the ground game, with 11 attempts for 109 yards and 3 touchdowns. Hunter Boyer carried 4 times for 14 yards.

Wreaking havoc in the backfield all night, Gavin Wilson had a monster game. The junior registered 9 tackles, 5 of them sacks, and 7 of them behind the line of scrimmage. Faulkner had a game-high 12 tackles, including a sack and 3 tackles for loss. A.J. Sirls, Jr. notched 10 tackles while Nick Keith tallied 9 takedowns. As a team, the Chargers recorded 11 sacks on the night.

Up next is a district rematch with Perkins-Tryon. Last year, the Chargers squeaked out a 28-21 win at Perkins when Phillip Smitherman iced the game on a pick six with under a minute to play. The game this year will be the first of at Pop Murray Memorial Field and a limited number of fans will get to attend!

Onward, Chargers!

Written by Quincy LeNorman '21

Photos by Dawn Freeman

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