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Saturday, October 16, 2021
Harrison News-Herald Sports
Huskies snap skid with Homecoming victory
Harrison News-Herald Photo/D.J. WATSON Huskies QB Hayden Cassidy hands off to Nathan Bertolino in the Harrison Central backfield.
BY D.J. WATSON Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer
CADIZ—Last week was a big week for the Harrison Central Huskies. Homecoming Week has always brought with it all the extra activities, celebrations, parades, and so on. But there was simply more to it this year. The Huskies came into kickoff having dropped five in a row, desperately needing a victory to lift up a locker room that has been dealt multiple blows of adversity through the first seven weeks of the season. No Trevor Carman, no Cabot Arbaugh, now no Jonathan Vermillion — no problem! The three two-way standouts roamed the sidelines cheering and coaching up their teammates, as the Huskies (3-5) turned the visiting Edison Wildcats into a one-dimensional team en route to a 27-17 streak-snapping triumph. “This was a big win for our players and coaches. It has been a year full of unfortunate injuries, COVID concerns, etc. We lost another guy tonight. We have lost at least one starter every week for six straight weeks. So for our young guys and our remaining older guys to come out and battle every week no matter the outcome, that speaks volumes to their commitment to the program and to one another,” a relieved head coach Anthony Hayes stated following the game. Hayes and his Huskies have been through the grinder. After starting the season 2-0, a series of setbacks have undoubtedly worked against
his squad the past number of weeks. Last Friday night, however, all the remaining cylinders seemed to fire in unison. The Wildcats took the initial lead on a 32-yard Mason Montgomery field goal with 4:22 remaining on the first-quarter clock. The Huskies’ defense had been tested early, and a field goal stand was a positive building block in the right direction. Harrison would answer with just 45 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Nathan Bertolino, who has been playing dinged up for most of the year himself, busted through the Wildcat defense for a 28-yard touchdown run to put the Huskies in front. In a rare occurrence, the HC extra point attempt sailed wide, so the quarter would end with a 6-3 Harrison advantage. The first half would see four lead changes, with an exchange of two second-quarter scores. Edison’s Gage Cline put the Wildcats back in front with a 19-yard touchdown toss with 7:54 to go in the second. Montgomery added the PAT to give the visitors a 10-6 short-lived lead. Less than three minutes later, Harrison’s sophomore quarterback Hayden Cassidy and freshman wideout Cameron Mcafee connected a 27-yard pitch and catch. This time around, Jace Madzia’s extra point was on par, and the Huskies would ride out the 13-10 edge into the halftime intermission. For the first time since Week 1, the Huskies would enjoy the luxury of playing with a twopossession lead, even if it didn’t last very long. Nearly midway through the third quarter, emerging playmaker Tre Rex hauled in a 35yard scoring strike from Cassidy to put the Huskies up 20-10. The Wildcats responded two and a half minutes later, punching one in on the ground from 10 yards out to cut the advantage to 20-17. That Wildcat touchdown came with 5:02 on the third-quarter clock, and the visitors would have offensive possession back by quarter’s end, threatening to retake the lead. “We know that each week we will have a dogfight. Edison is a good football team who came in at 5-2. They were big up front. They have a QB who is 6’6; he can run, and he has a See HUSKIES Pg.- 8
Lady Huskies soccer holds on for win over Coshocton BY SHARON DALTON Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer The Lady Huskies soccer team headed to Coshocton determined to finish the regular season with a victory. The Husky offense came out making great passes, and freshman Lily Gibbons scored the contest’s first goal ten minutes in. The first half was a hard-fought battle for both teams. Coshocton would advance downfield, but the Husky defenders, Rebecca Downs, Isabel Yeager, and Maggie Goudy, would hold back the charge. However, with seven minutes left in the first half, the Redskins scored off a corner kick and made the
halftime score 1-1. The Harrison Central offense continued showing excellent ball movement during the second half and controlled possession of the ball for most of the half. After being fouled six minutes into the half, Angie Ferri scored on a penalty kick to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. Katherine Shearer recorded fifteen saves on the night, helping the Huskies to hold on for a 2-1 victory. The Coshocton game concludes the Harrison season, and the Huskies finished the regular season 7-8-1. The next contest for the Huskies will be a sectional tournament game at West Holmes on Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Huskies varsity boys soccer gets 2nd clean sheet
Photos by Kris Puskarich Pictured is Jace Madzia (4) on the attack against Sandy Valley. Taylor Cope (6), Ben Puskarich (30), and Mack Marshall (16) watch Madzia advance the ball.
BY JULIE MARSHALL Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer It was a chilly, rainy evening when the Harrison Central varsity boys soccer team trekked to Magnolia for a match with the Sandy Valley Cardinals on Thursday, Oct. 7. The game was scoreless until 19 minutes left in the second half when junior Jace Madzia’s corner kick went soaring towards the bunchedup players in front of the Cardinal’s goal. Junior Kayden Jurosko trapped and passed the ball to sophomore Dean Forrester who planted it in the net for a Husky goal. Although this contest was chock full of Husky shots on goal, the only one to score gave the Huskies the victory 1-0. Sophomore goalkeeper Jaydis Yoho contributed by nabbing two saves for the Huskies. Head Coach Derek Gramling shook his head while commenting: “We had so many shots that didn’t go in! We kept shooting and shooting and shooting. It gave us another win on the road and our second clean sheet of the season.” Then on Tuesday, Oct. 12, the Huskies traveled to Beaver Valley Local to rival the Beavers. The Huskies’ huddle cry was not their typical “1, 2, 3 Huskies” Tuesday night but instead “1, 2, 3 Tyler” for one of their teammates that had been injured in a car accident and was still at the hospital. From the whistle, the Beavers were hungry to score and score, and they did just that 1 minute and 13 seconds into the game. Although Gramling questioned the goal due to
the Beavers’ being offsides at the time of the pass, it counted, and the Huskies had to shake it off and get their game face on; the battle would prove to be intense. Beaver Local scored again with 24 minutes remaining in the first half to raise the score 2-0. Eighteen minutes into the second half, the Huskies senior captain Ben Puskarich stole the ball and broke away from the Beavers for the goal that put the Huskies on the board 2-1. Moments later, the Beavers answered back with a shot that hit the left post and popped into the goal to make the score 3-1. With 19 minutes left, the Beavers’ corner kick and header netted them another goal, and it was 4-1. The Huskies fought back with two Madzia shots that were thwarted by the Beavers. The Beavers scored their final goal with 6 minutes left for a 5-1 tally. The game was riddled with penalties by the Beavers — 14 to be exact, and only one by the Huskies. Yoho had a good night in goal with 9 saves. Gramling stated, “We played well holding them to only 2 goals until midway into the second half. Our big Achilles heel tonight was that we got tired.” He continued, “Kaden Jurosko had the game of his life tonight and played like 3 guys. Our defense held the line really well to keep their players offsides. We played hard and got out with no injuries.” The Huskies will go into the playoffs next week healthy and eager for a win. They will play TriValley at home on Monday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
HC Volleyball catches fire, defeats Martins Ferry BY SHARON DALTON Harrison News-Herald Sports Writer The Lady Huskies were on fire as they took on the Purple Riders of Martins Ferry on Thursday, Oct. 7 at Harrison Central. After a difficult 26-24 first-set victory, they would continue on claiming the final two sets with scores of 2517 and 25-10. Logan Johnson led the Huskies with 23 assists, and Maddy Butler contributed 21 digs and 17 points. McKayla Dunkle showed
senior leadership with 18 kills and 5 blocks. The JV Huskies won their match, with scores of 25-13, 12-25, and 25-21. The Lady Husky volleyball team returned to action on Monday, Oct. 11 in East Liverpool. The Potters would take all three sets: 25-12, 25-7, and 25-12. McKayla Dunkle led with 10 kills and 4 blocks. Logan Johnson contributed 16 assists and 4 points. Maddy Butler had 12 digs. The JV team lost in straight sets: 25-8 and 25-12.
Homecoming King and Queen announced
Harrison News-Herald Photo/D.J. WATSON
Harrison News-Herald Photo/ SHARON DALTON Pictured is Harrison’s Sarah Touville returning the ball vs. Martins Ferry on Thursday.
Harrison News-Herald Photo/ SHARON DALTON
The Harrison Central Homecoming queen candidates pose for a picture during halftime ceremonies. Pictured from left to right: Kenzi Bailey, Tristen Kovarik, 2021 Homecoming Queen McKayla Dunkle, Sarah Touville, and Kasey Novak. Nathan Bertolino was named the Homecoming King.
