Hurricanes Lose To North Cobb
It was a long night for the Monticello Hurricanes as they fell short to the North Cobb Christian Eagles, 27-23. The Canes fought hard all night and were inches away from claiming the victory.
The Canes defense came out strong as they forced a punt on the first drive of the game, largely thanks to an impressive sack by #2 Jamel Gude.
However, the Eagles defense proved to be a challenging obstacle to conquer as the Canes were forced to punt twice in the first quarter.
However, the Canes offense would shine later on in this hard fought game.
The Canes experienced a difficult start to the second quarter as the Eagles crossed the goal line to score early in the second quarter. However, the Canes, more specifically #3 Marquise Reese, were unwilling to give up that easily as Reese returned the ball for a touchdown. A successful two point conversion by #6 Mac Barton led to the Canes taking the lead by a narrow one point margin. Sadly, the Eagles struck late in the second quarter to take a 14-8 lead heading into halftime.
The Canes offense came out of halftime firing as #14 Jay Fleetwood broke the goal line barrier during the first drive of the second half. For the second time of the night, Barton converted a two point conversion putting an extra eight points on the board for the Canes.
On the defensive side of the ball, a third down stop by #53 Akiren Walker forced the Eagles to settle for three points. However, those points led to the Eagles possessing 17 points to the Canes’ 16 as both teams prepared for the final quarter.
The fourth quarter looked worrisome at the beginning, as the Eagles converted an earlier field goal. However, the persistent Canes offense fired back with a most impressive drive, which was kicked off by a gigantic run by #1 Dylan Jackson. This run led to Fleetwood completing a touchdown pass to Barton. He received the ball before laying an unexpected Eagle soul to the ground and crossing the goal line to give the Canes the lead. Unfortunately, the Eagles broke through the Canes defense and scored the game winning touchdown to end the night, 27-23, Eagles win.
Despite a disappointing night for the Canes, the team played hard and demonstrated a fighting spirit worthy of notice. This week, the Canes prepare to host the Union County Panthers as the Canes kick off region play for the season on Friday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
With high hopes after demonstrating grit over the course of three rigorous games, Monticello should expect to be awed at the plays and teamwork of these Canes during a tough schedule of upcoming back to back region games.