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Hancock scores touchdowns on first 6 drives to top Hurley 56-20

Daily Globe (Ironwood)/Jason Juno Hancock’s Colton Salani stiff arms Hurley’s Scott Subert on his way for a 21-yard touchdown, Friday, at McAfee Field in the first quarter.

HANCOCK — Up and down the Hancock Bulldogs went, piling up video game-like stats as their tempo and multitude of skill players overwhelmed the Hurley Midgets.

But the most impressive statistic in Hancock’s 56-20 West-PAC win over Hurley was 6 for 6: Hancock had six possessions in the first half and ended them all with touchdowns for a 42-14 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs (5-1, 4-1) simply could not be stopped.

“We knew that if we could ever hit on all cylinders, then boom,” said Hancock head coach Ted Holmstrom, whose team outdueled Hurley, 47-40, last year in a high-scoring shootout. “We had such a good performance on offense against this team last year, that the things we saw on film, we knew there was the potential for the same thing.”

With all due respect to last year’s unit, this season’s Bulldogs are on another level as far as offensive efficiency.

Hancock racked up 449 yards of offense, with 336 coming in the first half. Junior back Alex Nordstrom did his damage on the edges and finished with 135 yards on 13 carries (10.4) and a touchdown, while senior Aaron Barnes plowed his way between the tackles for 104 yards on 11 attempts (9.45) and scored three times. Sophomore quarterback Colton Salani added two rushing touchdowns and completed 8 of 10 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.

The big plays were once again prevalent, as Hancock scored on gains of 21, 58, 20, 48, 20 and 54 yards.

“With the talented players we have, and the fact they’re willing to work hard and dedicate themselves to excellence, good things happen,” Holmstrom said. “The team is very dedicated to team play and supporting each other, so it’s just a pleasure to coach these young men.”

In what was projected as a high-scoring contest where each possession would be vital, Hurley did itself no favors on the opening kickoff, fumbling the ball and allowing the Bulldogs to recover at the Hurley 30. Four plays and just over a minute later, Hurley trailed 7-0 after Salani’s 21-yard run that came on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-inches.

“We got beat in every facet tonight and got off to a slow start,” Hurley head coach Scott Erickson said. “Hats off to the Hancock coaches and players. They put the pedal on and we couldn’t stop them.”

For a while, Hancock couldn’t stop Hurley, either.

Following Salani’s score, Hurley junior Dakota Haanen returned the kickoff down to the Hancock 5; and two plays later, senior Scott Subert scored on a 4-yard run.

Haanen later capped a five-play, 65-yard drive with a 12-yard run to tie the game at 14 — answering Hancock junior Brendan LeClaire’s 58-yard touchdown run — as Hancock struggled with Hurley’s deceptive Wing-T power-running formation.

“We were waiting for that first stop, because we knew it would be decisive,” Holmstrom said. “If (Hurley) could get it on us, that would have been very difficult for us.”

But they didn’t.

Facing a second-and-4 from the Hurley 20, Salani read the defense and decided to run another sneak for a 20-yard touchdown to put Hancock ahead 21-14. Hurley (3-3, 3-3) was giving a similar defensive look to Salani that Hancock has seen in the past against a different opponent, and the sophomore took advantage of the gap in Hurley’s defensive front for the second time.

“I told Colton last year, there was another team that did the same thing, and I said, ‘Next time you see that, go with the quarterback sneak cause it will be there,'” Holmstrom said, “and he remembered from the year before… He’s so smart.”

The elusive defensive stop was finally recorded by Hancock on Hurley’s next possession. On fourth-and-6 from the Hancock 13, Hurley senior quarterback Isaac DeCarlo was forced into a hurried pass and it sailed incomplete in the end zone.

Despite the poor field position, Hancock went all 87 yards in 10 plays and took a 28-14 lead on a 9-yard run from Barnes.

A 48-yard run by Barnes up the middle and Nordstrom’s 20-yard run off right tackle capped a 28- point unanswered scoring run for Hancock and a 42-14 lead.

“It’s really tough (to match them) with just 17 guys on your roster,” Erickson said, “but you try to keep the ball on offense, and we were there for a while but just couldn’t make a stop to get them into a punt situation.”

Hancock’s defense switched up its defensive front and brought more blitzes to stymie Hurley’s run game. The Midgets had a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive capped by Subert’s second score of the night in the third quarter, but it was nowhere near enough to keep up with Hancock’s high-octane attack.

Hurley tallied 333 yards on the ground, with Haanen finishing with 99 yards on 14 carries (7.07).

“We didn’t totally stop them, but we slowed them down,” Holmstrom said.

Hancock’s starting unit failed to register a touchdown on just one drive: the opening drive of the third quarter, suffering a three-and-out.

But Hancock senior Grant Hokenson later got in on the playmaking act on a 54-yard touchdown reception, making three defenders miss in the process for a 49-20 lead.

Next, Hancock will look to clinch a playoff berth with a trip to Gwinn on Friday.

Hurley 14 0 6 0 — 20

Hancock 21 21 7 7 — 56

First quarter

HAN — Colton Salani 21-yard run (XP good), 7-0, 10:38

HUR — Subert 4-yard run (2-pt no good), 7-6, 9:47

HAN — Brendan LeClaire 58-yard run (XP good), 14-6, 9:28

HUR — Haanen 12-yard run (2-pt good), 14-14, 7:10

HAN — Salani 20-yard run (XP good), 21-14, 4:48

Second quarter

HAN — Aaron Barnes 9-yard run (XP good), 28-14, 7:02

HAN — Barnes 48-yard run (XP good), 35-14, 4:21

HAN — Alex Nordstrom 20-yard run (XP good), 42-14, 1:27

Third quarter

HUR — Subert 1-yard run (2-pt no good), 42-20, 6:05

HAN — Grant Hokenson 54-yard pass from Salani (XP good), 49-20, 5:05

Fourth quarter

HAN — Barnes 1-yard run (XP good), 56-20, 6:08

Total offense

Hurley 334 yard (333 rushing, 1 passing); Hancock 449 (334 rushing, 115 passing)

Rushing (carries-yards-touchdowns)

Hurley — Haanen 14-99-1, DeCarlo 12-80-0, Henning 14-66-0, Subert 17-64-2, Symons 3-24-0; Hancock — Nordstrom 13-135-1, Barnes 11-104-3, LeClaire 3-58-1, Salani 7-42-2, Larson 1- -12-0.

Passing (completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-interceptions)

Hurley — DeCarlo 1-3-1-0-0; Hancock — Salani 8-10-108-1-0; Larson 1-2-7-0-0.

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