PREP FOOTBALL: Huskey powers Harrison over Alma

ALMA -- Harrison has a simple formula for success: Feed the ball to Huskey.

"We got to get him the football when we can," Goblins coach Joel Wells said.

Harrison 31, Alma 0

Harrison 10 7 7 7 — 31

Alma 0 0 0 0 — 0

First Quarter

Harr – Huskey 44 run (Payne kick), 11:40

Harr – FG Payne 32, 0:25

Second Quarter

Harr – Shaver 11 pass from Johnson (Payne kick), 1:23

Third Quarter

Harr – Johnson 4 run (Payne kick), 7:04

Fourth Quarter

Harr – Huskey 43 run (Payne kick), 9:53

It's a game plan that has been hugely successful as Gabe Huskey led his team to a 31-0 win against Alma on Friday in Airedale Stadium.

Harrison rode the running back to its first win at Alma since 2007 after he finished the game with 269 yards and a couple of scores.

Harrison (8-0, 5-0 5A-West) kept feeding the ball to its star running back who proved to be a consistent first-down threat for the Goblins, averaging close to 8.5 yards per carry on 23 carries in the first half alone. At one point he ran for three consecutive first downs on Harrison's drive that ended with Maxwell Payne's 32-yard field goal in the first quarter.

"You give him enough touches, he's really hard to slow down," Wells said. "He makes everything else work."

Huskey opened up the scoring for the Goblins early, taking the initial kickoff 43 yards before finishing off his team's possession with a 44-yard run on the first play. The junior also tacked on a 43-yard touchdown in the second half on the first play of the Goblins' possession.

He needed two carries in the third quarter to eclipse the 200-yard mark, reaching the milestone on a 12-yard run that set up Ben Johnson's touchdown run on the ensuing play.

Johnson provided Harrison another rushing threat from the quarterback position and another 100-yard rusher for the Goblins, after he finished with 167 total yards. Wells took advantage of Alma (4-4, 4-1) overplaying Huskey by giving Johnson the green light to run on read-option plays.

"We kind of cut him loose, and he showed us what he can do running the football," Wells said. "I'm real proud of him."

Alma struggled on offense in the first half, only amassing 24 total yards, but the team strung along a couple of big plays in the second half that created some momentum for the Airedales. Tanner Shelton had a run of 39 yards, which was Alma's longest play of the night.

Pressure from Harrison's front line and good coverage by the secondary led to the Goblins shutting out Alma. Bryant Ulrich and Colton Shaver each had an interception with Shaver's ending Alma's last real chance of scoring with just under five minutes left in the game.

"We got speed on defense," Wells said.

Sports on 10/20/2018

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