PREP FOOTBALL: Hanceville stuns Holly Pond with 30 unanswered points for wild 60-50 comeback

Published 1:40 am Saturday, October 17, 2015

HOLLY POND — After last week’s upset of Oakman, Hanceville didn’t think winless Holly Pond would pose much of a threat in Friday’s county and region matchup.

Oh, how wrong the Bulldogs turned out to be.

The Broncos gave it their best shot at ending the state’s longest active losing streak, but the Purple and Gold simply never gave up, scoring 30 unanswered points in the second half to claim a wild 60-50 shootout.

B.J. Smalls ran for 253 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries, and quarterback Branen Hurst had a hand in four scores of his own to lift Hanceville to 3-5 overall and 3-2 in Class 3A, Region 5. More importantly, the win — and a Winfield blowout of Oakman Friday night — kept the Bulldogs in position to earn first-round hosting rights if they beat Susan Moore (3-5, 3-2) next week.

But that’s the future. Smalls was content to celebrate the present and soak in every second of Hanceville’s come-from-behind effort.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “I can’t lie. It was hard, but we came back. As a family. As a team. And I love that.”

Danny Miller thought he’d seen everything after his Dawgs put up 43 points in the first half of last week’s stunner. Friday’s triumph had the coach shaking his head yet again — but in the best way possible.

“We had some guys step up and be leaders in the second half,” Miller said. “Branen Hurst, that guy’s been a man-child for us all year long. Then B.J., that guy gets better every game we go out.

“I think we just sort of made up our mind that we weren’t going to lose the ballgame — and that’s pretty much what happened. I’m awfully proud of those guys.”

One week after letting a 12-point lead slip against Vinemont, Holly Pond (0-8, 0-5) was unable to hang on to a 20-point advantage Friday night.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

Michael Lambert was 19 of 33 for 332 passing yards and a trio of touchdowns to Dylan Morton, who finished with five catches for 169 yards. Lambert added 40 yards and a fourth score on the ground, while Caleb Jones chipped in an 80-yard kickoff return as part of a three-TD evening.

Chris Richards contributed 88 receiving yards and preserved the Broncos’ 36-22 lead at halftime with an interception deep in their own own territory.

The loss was Holly Pond’s 28th in a row.

Coach Mike Bates thought the crowd got its money’s worth and figured they’d even pay to see it again.

As for him?

“I wouldn’t. I know the ending now,” Bates joked. “But I’m really proud of our kids. I thought we played as hard as we could play. I think we stayed aggressive. We just couldn’t tackle them. That’s part of it. You can score a lot of points, but you’ve got to be able to stop them.”

Hanceville made just enough stops to get the job done, receiving an interception apiece from Romael Simmons and Jose Orozco. The latter’s came on a full-extension diving grab to all but dash Holly Pond’s hopes with about two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“I just thrust my whole body into it, hoping, just praying it would fall into my hands,” Orozco said. “And it did. It felt great.”

Smalls scored on runs of 44, 8, 45 and 33 yards. Hurst, who had 57 rushing yards, tacked on his touchdowns on totes of 3, 18 and 1 yards, and went 9 of 18 through the air for 163 yards and a 16-yard scoring strike to Orozco.

Simmons finished with 70 rushing yards, the same total Isaac Weissend tallied as a receiver. Orozco had one other reception for 40 yards, and Andrew Alldredge hauled in a pair of 2-point conversion passes.

Lambert and Morton were a dynamic duo for Holly Pond, hooking up for touchdowns of 38, 9 and 71 yards. Jones reached the end zone on rushes of 2 and 8 yards, as well as his lengthy return.

Zac Naler was on the receiving end of a 2-point toss, and Takoda Graves had an electrifying 60-yard return on the second half kickoff to set up a scoring drive.

Life won’t get any easier for the Broncos with a trip to region-champion Winfield next week.

It wasn’t that long ago Miller took over Hanceville with the program in the tail end of a 22-game skid. If anyone can relate to Holly Pond’s woes, it’s him.

“I’m glad it wasn’t tonight, but they deserve a win somewhere,” Miller said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

The difference between a win and loss next week against Susan Moore is extreme. A victory would spell a first-round home game for the fourth time in five falls. A defeat, however, would knock the Bulldogs out of contention unless Vinemont could muster an upset of Winston County.

Orozco and Co. know the stakes. Now, it’s just a matter of making it happen.

“We really just want to leave our legacy here,” he said. “Last year, we didn’t have the season we wanted to, but this year we’re hoping to make the playoffs and get the program started all over again.”