by Geoff Fox
The Hancock fell to a 0-5 record in a 42-6 loss at North Star that saw two Panthers go down to injury early in the game last Friday night, October 3, in Boswell, Pennsylvania.
Coach Greg Cartrette said the team struggled and had two injuries that knocked players out of the game.
The first came in the first quarter when the starting safety went down with a knee injury. Later in the quarter, one of the linemen suffered a leg injury.
A running back was injured in the first half, but was able to return in the second.
“We limped through the game,” Cartrette said. The team traveled with only 14 players as one player didn’t travel due to being sick.
He said the team played and gave everything they had, but when the injuries started, and with the numbers Hancock has, it made for a long night.
Cartrette had identified one of Hancock’s challenges as blocking on the field. Against North Star, it didn’t get better.
There was some improvement, but Cartrette said blocking is still something that’s going to be worked on into next year.
“It’s something that you’re not going to fix overnight,” the coach said.
He said the coaching staff can stress it at the end of the week and spend a day and a half each week on blocking, but it’s something the team has to keep working on to get better.
Overall, the Panthers had around 90 yards of total offense with 60 yards coming on one drive late in the game.
Cartrette said the Panthers were able to move the ball downfield with a mix of running back and quarterback runs that resulted in Logan Hendershot ending the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. They were the Panthers first points in three games. The two-point conversion failed.
Cartrette said the touchdown was huge for the team after three straight shutouts and not being able to move the ball in those games.
“It was a good drive and you can see on the film, even in the first half, we had positive plays,” he said.
Cartrette said on the first drive, with defenders all over him, the quarterback tried to pitch the ball to the running back, but it was mishandled, resulting in a turnover.
At times, the blocking for the Panthers did what they were supposed to do and offense picked up four or five yards.
“If we can pick up four or five yards every play, I’m happy,” Cartrette said.
The Panthers return home this weekend to host the 0-6 Stonewall Jackson Generals from Quicksburg, Virginia.
The two teams share a common opponent in Bath County who beat Hancock 42-0 (September 26) and topped Stonewall 36-0 (August 29).
Cartrette said he’s very relieved that the game is in Hancock and the road part of the schedule is over. Four of the Panther’s first five games have been on the road, three of which were back-to-back-to-back.
“It makes it difficult,” he said. “It’s hard on the kids, it’s hard on everybody.”
He said with those road games, the team gets back to Hancock late on Friday nights and that makes for a short weekend.
With the Generals coming to town, Cartrette said the Panthers could hang with them, as the two teams are comparable in size and speed.
It’s going to come to how healthy the Panthers are and they won’t know that until this week.
This Friday’s game is also the Homecoming game for Hancock Middle-Senior High School.
Cartrette said he wanted to invite the community to come out and support the kids and school and be a part of the homecoming festivities.
The game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Paul Imphong Field this Friday, October 10.
