Morganton – At the end of last season, citing missed opportunities his team had through the fall campaign, Andrews head football coach James Phillips said his team needs to take care of business “all the time” in 2022.
The Wildcats took care of business in game one, putting a running clock on the Hickory Hawks in a 42-14 win Friday night.
“We did some things really, really, really well, and we got on them pretty good early,” Phillips said. “The kids overall played pretty well. We’ve definitely got some little things we’ve got to clean up and get better at.”
Though the result was still a blowout win, it was a different game than the one the two teams played at Andrews last year, which was a 36-11 Wildcats win. In that game, Andrews led just 14-11 at halftime due to ball-security issues before pulling away in the second half. Running backs Austin Martin and Isaac Weaver combined for 56 carries.
This year, the Wildcats got out to a much faster start, moving the ball with ease. Weaver put Andrews on the board in the first quarter with a touchdown, then Martin added another before the end of the period. Weaver added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, then Martin found the end zone again on a 2-yard run to extend the lead to 35-0 at halftime.
After the Hickory Hawks fumbled the opening kickoff, Weaver scored again, this time a 45-yard run to put the game into a running clock. With the running clock, Martin and Weaver combined for 17 carries compared to their heavy load last year.
Defensively, Phillips was impressed with his group, as Hickory had some athletes and ran an offense you don’t see very often.
“It’s two tight-end, double wing sometimes, and they’re just trying to stick the ball in there and wedge block so it can be really hard,” Phillips said. “It’s kind of like rugby. It can be really hard to make plays for losses and get off the field. Defensively, we did that.”
The early blowout allowed Phillips to get his reserves playing time, including some sophomores who have had little or no varsity experience. Sophomore running backs Eli Aguilar and Holden Todd each got a few carries, while sophomore Antonio Hernandez is trying to break in as the starter at left guard. Phillips also liked what he saw out of sophomore Everett Tatham, who has a much bigger role on this year’s team at safety after seeing little playing time on varsity as a freshman.
Andrews will play its first game this season at Hugh Hamilton Stadium on Friday against East Henderson. The Eagles defeated Rosman 41-12 in their season opener for the second straight year. However, last year it was their only win in nine games, and East Henderson’s program has not had a winning season since 2011.
“Just looking at it early, East Henderson’s probably about a 70-30 pass-to-run ratio,” Phillips said. “So we’re going to have our work cut out for us defending the pass Friday night in what looks to be a pretty accurate quarterback.”