Hurricanes Lose Heartbreaker to War Eagles

It was a tough ending away from home for the Monticello Hurricanes this past week as they fell short 14-13 against their rival Putnam County War Eagles.

The Canes kicked the ball off to start the game, giving the War Eagles the opportunity to get on the board early. With this opportunity, the War Eagles drove the ball down the field and scored a touchdown giving them the lead. On the offensive side of the ball, the Canes came up big forcing an offside on the War Eagle offense extending the Canes drive on fourth down.

However, the Canes were stopped short on their next fourth down attempt as the Canes turned the ball over on downs. Looking to make a play, Chantz Watts (#56) came up with a five yard tackle for a loss forcing the War Eagles to punt the ball back to the Canes. This ended the first quarter with the War Eagles leading 7-0 into the second quarter.

After being forced to punt on the first drive of the second quarter, the Canes were back on defense. With the War Eagles looking to convert on fourth down, the Canes came up with a big stop to give the offense another chance to score.

However, an intercepted throw by the Canes led to a War Eagles touchdown despite a strong tackle by Max Dotson (#82). Trailing the War Eagles 14-0, the Canes went into halftime hoping to rally up a second half comeback.

It was a productive drive for the Canes on offense as Jay Fleetwood (#14) rushed for a first down followed by Dylan Jackson (#1) extending the drive after running for a first down on fourth and short. These two rushes led to Matt Cain (#10) throwing the ball to Marquise Reese (#3) who ran it into the end zone to shorten the deficit to 14-7. The defense, looking to get the Canes offense back on the field, came up with a tackle for a loss with Watts and Akirem Walker (#53) sharing the tackle. This forced the War Eagles to punt the ball giving the Canes a chance to tie the game to start the fourth quarter, trailing 14-7.

With the ball at the start of the final quarter of play, Cain threw a touchdown pass to De’lvion Lawrence (#19) to shorten the War Eagles lead to one point. With possession of the ball one last time, the Canes were looking to take the lead, but an unfortunate fumble led to the War Eagles recovering the ball and securing the win with only seconds remaining.

The Canes offense passed for 112 yards with 10 completions after 20 attempts.

The rushing game had 107 yards after 28 carries. The Canes offense had a total of 219 yards. The Canes defense demonstrated exceptional strength with 62 tackles with three tackles for a loss in yards and also two sacks. The Canes special teams had three kickoff returns for 58 yards.

Tomorrow the Canes play another region game when they take on the Oglethorpe County Patriots at Rose Bowl Field. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.