For the Spring Hill offense, two long drives ended in red zone fumbles recovered by Dierks defenders. The Bears' first score, a touchdown on a spectacular Jaxon Smith pass to Karson Hamilton who caught the ball at the 20 yard line and broke tackles on his way to the end zone, only took place at the end of the first half, after Dierks was already ahead by 26 points.
Spring Hill would score one more touchdown, this one with ten seconds left in the third quarter, after a heave by Smith was caught by Hamilton for a 49-yard trip to the end zone. With Luis-Alejandro Vandenberghe’s second successful point-after-touchdown kick, the Bears made the score 35-14, Outlaws.
The Outlaws would score one more touchdown from that point and add another two-point conversion. Both were on Jordan Hill runs. Hill and teammate Juan Salazar put on displays of speed throughout the game, often getting into the Bears’ backfield defense for big gains, or escaping pursuit altogether on scoring plays.
The Bears never did give up, though, continuing to play hard despite the point margin. One of the team’s key runners and defenders, Alex Arriaga, after leaving the field hobbling from a hurt ankle in the third quarter returned to play tough defense, making hard tackles that slowed the Outlaws on one of their scoring drives.
After the game, Bears Coach Greg Smith acknowledged his team had played hard, but said “We made some mistakes tonight. That's just what we did. We make mistakes, and we let them capitalize on them. We just have to be there for each other and fight through it.”
The loss was the Bears' fourth in a row after its season opener 34-6 victory against Genoa Central at home on August 30th.
The Bears next play Friday October 11th against Lafayette County in Lewisville, a 2-3 (0-2) team that was edged in Gurdon by the Go-Devils 39-36 Friday night. Lafayette County lost its own game to Dierks September 27th by a score of 32-22.
SWARK.Today's coverage of Spring Hill's Homecoming Ceremony, which took place early Friday, can be seen here.
