McDaniel ignores helmet, decimates Humphreys

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 26, 2004

Humphreys defender Daniel Gilmer grabs the facemask of Sharkey-Issaquena running back Larry Stevens during the first quarter. Gilmer was called for a personal foul. At right, SIA’s Jess Hodnett blocks Jesse Donahoo. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[8/21/04]ROLLING FORK Sharkey-Issaquena’s star tailback Zack McDaniel had some first-game problems. That is, he couldn’t get the chinstrap on his helmet to stay on.

McDaniel missed the first series of offense trying to fix his helmet and hurry back on the field. By the end of the game, he was sitting out the fourth quarter as the Confederates rode out a 26-0 win over Humphreys in the opening game of the academy football season on Friday.

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“All four of my buttons broke and I couldn’t get them back in. I have no idea what was wrong with them, just bad luck I guess,” McDaniel said. “I started moving stuff, connecting, it broke the whole thing. It’s still not fixed, but I had to play.

“I wasn’t going to sit out.”

Once he entered in the second offensive series, McDaniel did his part. He finished with 125 rushing yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. He also caught a screen pass and ran 65 yards for another score.

“Offensively, we didn’t have to do a lot of things because the running game was working, and that’s great,” SIA coach Cori Britt said.

Sloppy tackling by SIA on the Rebels’ opening drive allowed Humphreys to pick up three first downs and move the ball to the Confederates’ 36-yard line before finally giving up the ball on downs.

“I think we just weren’t in the mood yet,” McDaniel said of the opening drive. “After a couple series of hitting, we got ready to play.”

Larry Stevens paced SIA’s offense while McDaniel was out for the first drive. Stevens had five carries for 37 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Confederates ahead 6-0.

After Humphreys punter James Reed dropped the snap and downed the punt at the Humphreys 24, McDaniel returned and took three plays to score on a 16-yard scamper that gave SIA a 12-0 advantage.

Both teams jostled back and forth in the second quarter before the Confederates finally hit the scoreboard with 55 seconds remaining in the half. SIA capped off a six-play, 32-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hankins to Jess Hodnett in the corner of the end zone.

McDaniel ran in the 2-point conversion to put SIA up 20-0 at the half.

On the opening drive of the second half, Hankins found McDaniel on a screen pass five yards from the line of scrimmage. McDaniel then juked his way to a 63-yard touchdown that put SIA ahead 26-0.

He had another chance to score on the following drive when he broke a touchdown run for 75 yards, but the play was called back for an illegal block in the back on a player McDaniel had already passed. SIA did not score again.

“It was just a careless mistake by one of our players,” McDaniel said. “It won’t happen again. We’ll fix that.”

The Confederates’ defense allowed only 3 yards in the second half while running out the clock on offense.

Despite holding Humphreys to 30 yards of total offense on 42 plays, the Confederates were not happy with their team defense.

“We made a lot of (mistakes) and it showed us a lot of our weaknesses,” Britt said. “That’s what a first game should do, and if you’re lucky you come out on top and that’s what we did.”