Published: September 03, 2008 10:52 am         

Ethel drops tough one to Warriors, 27-0

Having an easy game to open the season was not a luxury Ethel High School got to enjoy.

The homestanding Tigers instead tangled with one of the top teams in Region 3-1A, dropping a hard fought 27-0 decision to Nanih Waiya.

"They are in the top three (in the division)," said Ethel head coach Paul Dees of the Warriors. "And I think they are going to give the other two (Weir and Durant) a good little push. They have got everything coming back and have a lot of experience."

But, despite the odds against them, the Tigers didn't give in. Ethel played the visitors tight throughout the first half, before giving up a touchdown in the last minute of the second quarter and then two touchdowns in the third quarter.

"It was a typical first game," Dees said. "I think we did some things really good and some things really poorly. I still think we have got a chance for a very good season. We just need to learn from our mistakes and keep improving."

One of the positives Dees noted was that his Tigers were in good shape. "I thought our conditioning was good," he said. "We handled the humidity well on Friday night. We had so many players going both ways and they really hung in there."

Despite losing by four touchdowns, the Tigers had a chance to take control of the game early. On the opening drive Ethel marched the ball from its own 20 down to the Nanih Waiya 13 before turning the ball over on downs.

"It would have been nice to have been able to score right there and put the pressure on them," Dees said.

But instead it was Nanih Waiya that scored first.

After a scoreless first quarter against Ethel, the Warriors went up 7-0 early in the second quarter following a 76-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard scoring run by Aries Crosby. Austin Swart was good on the kick.

Even a 7-0 deficit at the half would have been okay with Dees, but the defense broke down late in the half allowing Fred Hampton to score on a 20-yard run with less than a minute before intermission. Swart's kick made it 14-0.

"If we could have held them right there, things could have been different," Dees said. "But they came out in the second half and added to their lead and put us too far behind."

Nanih Waiya added two third quarter touchdowns to lead 27-0 with a quarter still left to play.

The first came on a 56-yard run by Hampton, while the second was a 3-yard run by Martin Johnson.

Hampton finished the night with 141 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Crosby had 13 totes for 99 yards.

Matt Morgan led Ethel, now 0-1 on the year, with 43 rushing yards on 10 attempts, while Alexander Irving had nine carries for 36 yards. Hunter Dempsey completed one-of-three passes for 14 yards.

Keith Collins led Ethel defensively with 16 stops, while Morgan added 11 tackle and Dylan Simmons had eight.