Bulldogs hope to keep home field hex alive against Hornets
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Find out how to advertise here - Email us! [email protected]
First, I’ve got to say that this would have been a perfect Saturday game. Hamilton vs. Gallatin. Hornet Homecoming, no less. A sunny September afternoon with echoes of a parade still lingering in the air.
But despite the fact that it’s a Friday night meeting, it’s not just another Friday night football game.
This week’s contest, as always, has the slightly scaled-down flavor of the Chiefs vs. Raiders, Tigers vs. Jayhawks and Bearcats vs. Griffons. The good guys/bad guys label all depends on which side of the district dividing line you live on.
The Bulldogs enter this week’s contest with a 3-0 record and #3 state ranking. The Hornets, 2-1 overall, are still very much alive in the Grand River Conference race, despite last week’s 28-7 loss to state-ranked South Harrison. Friday night will be the first of three straight home games for Hamilton.
Last year’s outcome, a 23-20 Hornet victory thanks to an Andy Pratt fourth quarter field goal, was the closest since 1985. The Hornets are a much different team than the one that last year featured Ross Rosenbaum at quarterback and linebacker. Rosenbaum transferred to Cameron and is currently splitting time at quarterback.
The Hornets don’t have a lot of size in the backfield, but that hasn’t stopped them from finding the end zone. Logan Smith, a junior, leads the Hornets with 325 yards rushing and is averaging nearly eight yards per carry. Senior John Burdick gets much of the work around the goal line. Freshman Dylan Chadwick is an explosive runner who found the end zone twice against King City. He looks to be a fixture in the PHS backfield for quite some time.
The Hornets are young at quarterback, with sophomore Cale Brown calling signals. Junior Ivan Greenwood can play quarterback, receiver or running back. The threat of a halfback pass is always just one call away in the Hornet playbook.
For Gallatin, senior quarterback Nic Burrell and junior halfback Stephen Wood have gobbled up yards and touchdowns to date. Wood has rushed for 350 yards and eight touchdowns in three games. Burrell, who sat out the opener with a hamstring injury, has 256 yards on the ground in two games with a pair of touchdowns. He also threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns last week against North Platte. Senior Derrick Love, the most valuable blocker in the Bulldog backfield, had a 111-yard, two-touchdown game against Tarkio.
In this series, the home team has not won since 2002, when the Hornets gained a 26-14 victory in a 1-9 Bulldog season.
Gallatin has scored first in three of the last four meetings, but won only once.
Hamilton has the overall lead in the series since 1929, but Gallatin has won 7 of the last 10. On the other hand, the Hornets have won 3 of the last 4.