Brunswick Game Report
Saturday, September 20 at Hackley (1:30 P.M.)
It doesn't get much tougher than this. Brunswick scored on its first possession and made the two point conversion. Yet, down by the score of 8-0, as it did last week at St. Luke's, the Hackley offense responded. They mixed the pass and run to perfection, and drove downfield inside the Brunswick 20 yard line. Then disaster struck. The promising drive was ended abruptly when a Hackley fumble was recovered by Brunswick. The Brunswick offense capitalized quickly on the miscue, and struck pay-dirt on a long touchdown run. The extra point conversion was missed, and the Hornets were still alive, down by only 14 points. Undaunted by the score, the offense again rose to the challenge. Junior Quarterback Brandon Stoller engineered the Hackley offense's most impressive drive of the afternoon. After grinding out a long, sustained drive, the Hornets had first and goal inside the Brunswick five yard line. Then, on a play that might have been challenged had instant replay rules applied to high school, Hackley fumbled right on the goal line, and Brunswick recovered in their own end-zone. The ball was brought out to the twenty, and the Brunswick offense was hoping to put the game out of reach. At this point, the Hornets needed to come up with a big defensive play, and did. A hard hit caused a Brunswick fumble; Hackley recovered at their opponent's twenty-five yard line and the offense was back in business. However, this opportunity was also missed, when the ball was put on the ground for the third time and Brunswick again recovered. This was an opportunity the Brunswick offense refused to squander, and they scored for the third time. Their two point conversion was successful, and the home team was suddenly down 22-0. From this point on, the inexperience of the young Hackley players was the main ingredient that prevented them from climbing out of such a significant deficit. Understandably shaken by the dramatic string of turnovers, the offense seemed to play the rest of the way trying not to lose instead of to win. With the momentum going all their way, Brunswick was able to ride the crest to victory, and notched their first victory of the season after an opening day loss.
Despite the lopsided final score, the young Hornets had a lot to be proud of. The offense moved the ball up and down the field on the ground, while both starting running backs, fullback Kevin Cooper and halfback Jesse Teitel, ignored leg injuries and gutted it out. Although playing hurt, which may have played a role in some of the miscues, these leaders made no excuses, and expected success nonetheless. Senior Co-Captain Kristian Herrmann played well, and did not let the team down despite going into action with a painful rib injury. The defense also came up with the big turnover and stop when they needed it, and will just chalk this one up to experience. Sophomore lineman Nick Silverstein said, "We don't have time to sulk about this one. We go on the road for two weeks now, and don't intend on coming home empty."
Another program might panic under the stress of rebuilding, but not Hackley's. For this program, the only thing that comes out of a loss like this is a greater desire to succeed. Next week they'll try to right the ship versus Pennington in New Jersey. Let's not let them down. The home crowd was too quiet today, so lets get out to Jersey and make some noise. Let's show our team that we're behind them more than ever. They're not quitters, and neither are we. Let's Go Hackley.
When defensive coordinator Hector Negron was asked to reflect on the game, here's what he had to say, "I thought we played a competitive first half but made some bad mistakes which, put us down by two touchdowns when we should have been even at the half. In the second half, we ran out of gas, lost our composure, our confidence, and fell apart. The hardest thing in the world to do is get up after you've been knocked down. We will get up. We will dust ourselves off. We will prepare for our next opponent with renewed vigor. We will fight for victory against Pennington School."