Canes Fall in First Round of Playoffs

Last Friday, the Monticello Hurricanes took on the Hapeville Charter Hornets in the first round of the state playoffs. The Canes fought hard, but lost 42-0. 

The captains for the game were Jay Johnson (#3), Glendon Graybill (#71), Andrew Lee (#66), and Colton Clay (#25). The Canes lost the coin toss and started the game receiving. They started strong on their first offensive possession with the first play of the game being a pass for a first down from Jay Fleetwood (#14) to Clay. Johnson ran the ball twice for nine yards which ended up being a fourth down. They went for it on fourth down and converted it with a strong three-yard run by Clay.

The Canes stayed strong running the ball with Clay and Johnson, but ended up with another fourth down. The Canes went for it again on fourth down, but Hapeville intercepted the ball. Graybill and Marquis Reese (#24) had tackles on the Hornets first drive, but Hapeville scored a touchdown and went up 7-0.

The Canes couldn’t get much started on their second drive and were forced to punt. They did well on defense with a tackle by Clay, a tackle by Fleetwood, and tackle and deflected pass by Braden Lynch (#7). At the end of the first quarter, Hapeville Charter was up 13-0.

The Canes did well on defense with tackles by Jakier Stone (#5), Johnson, and three tackles by Lynch. Hapeville went up 21-0 with 8:34 left in the first half. The Canes were strong on defense the rest of the first half. Reese had a tackle and two deflected passes. They forced the Hornets to punt and finished the first half strong on offense with Colton Clay rushing for more than 30 yards and converting on a fourth down, but the Canes went into the half down 21-0.

The Canes played tough on defense the rest of the game with many good tackles by Lynch, Clay, Jacob Parrish (#63), Max Dotson (#82), Lee, Graybill, Shakur Sands (#4), Reese, and Gavriel McClain (#13), but they couldn’t get anything started on offense.

Head Coach Doug Huff said, “We played hard, but not very well. This season we have improved a lot and we did what it took to make it to the playoffs. We are a very young team and a lot of young players got playing time this season which is good for the future.” 

With the Hurricane football season now over, thank you to all the coaches and players for a great season and thanks for all the fans and supporters who have been there for the team to cheer them on and support them. Go Canes!