Defense takes down Bears in Week 3 shutout win

After a tough 28-7 loss to Clinton in Week 2, the Heritage Hall Chargers wanted to come away with a great win against the John Marshall Bears, and that is exactly what they did.

The game started off with a slow first quarter, but ended with a 22-yard passing touchdown thrown by Andy Bass to senior fullback Zach Fetrow, and a good extra point kick by Carter Counts. Fetrow has now scored on 4 of his 5 career pass receptions.

The second quarter was more action-packed, ignited by a defensive stop and fumble recovery by Rashaud Smith for a 52-yard touchdown. Smith then scored on the subsequent 2-point conversion attempt to give Heritage Hall a 15-0 lead.

Later in the quarter, Orie Walker made an amazing catch in the end zone on a 28-yard pass from Andy Bass, and Counts tacked on another extra point. The junior kicker made all of his point-after kicks in the game. The Hall held a commanding 22-0 advantage at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, the Chargers were hot. Andy Bass started things off with a 66-yard touchdown run. Bass would come back later in the quarter with another run to the end zone, this time for 52-yards. In the last minutes of the third quarter, Barrett Travis pounced on a high snap from the Bears that had soared into their own end zone.

In his first game back on the sidelines this year, head coach Brett Bogert '05 put in the reserves to get some "reps."
John Marshall finally made it into the red zone and it looked like they were going to score. Then, Boston Fuller made an amazing interception and 37 yard runback to secure the zero on the scoreboard. No touchdowns were scored in the fourth quarter.

The player of the game was Andy Bass and rightfully so. Andy Bass was 7 of 15 passing for 116 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 151 yards on 10 attempts, scoring twice. Orie Walker was the only Charger receiver with multiple catches, 3 for 64 and score, as the Chargers worked the clock with the ground attack. Barrett Travis carried 7 times for 30 yards.

Defensively, the Chargers had 6 takeaways (2 interceptions, 4 fumble recoveries) that made it hard for John Marshall to build any momentum. Cooper Cookson trapped 13 Bears to lead the team in tackles, with Fetrow (12) and Liam Burton (8) not far behind. Burton registered one sack, as did Charlie Ghaniabadi.

This decisive bounce-back win was a major boost to the confidence of the entire team. It also showed fans how important Coach Bogert is to the team. River Faulkner returns to the field for week four, and last year's leading rusher is amped to get back in the action. Hopefully, the Chargers can ride this energy and momentum into their next game, on the road at Lone Grove (3-0) to open District play. The game will be broadcast on the ChargerVision network, with pregame starting at 6:45 and kickoff slated for 7pm. Onward, Chargers!

Written by Sam Fowler '24
Photos by Dawn Freeman

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