Forget that the effort began last Friday and the verdict wasn’t rendered until Tuesday night, when the team snapped a 10-game losing streak and rebounded from a 55-28 loss at Myers Park the week before.
The Huskies (1-2) returned a fumble for a touchdown and had their defense and special teams come up big leading to a pair of 2-yard — yes, 2-yard — touchdown drives en route to the victory.
An injury that could sideline starting quarterback Josh Stilley until the conference opener or beyond, and a quirky rainstorm that washed out all the football games in Mecklenburg County last Friday didn’t stop the Huskies from winning for the first time since the school opened with consecutive victories last year, in its inaugural season.
The newness of the school and its athletic program showed, at least when it came to the celebrating of a victory. There was no Gatorade shower poured onto Huskies coach Bobby Collins, but at least the shower of ice water dumped by players onto the second-year coach came from a pitcher with “Gatorade” written on it.
And then Collins had to remind his team to wait until the game was over before dumping ice onto their coach and the field.
Recipe for victory
If you’re seriously searching for a strategy to win a football game, do not write this down. For the Huskies — at least against the Panthers — the strategy included having the defense allow a 14-play drive to start the game. Then, after holding the hosts to a field goal, the Huskies had their starting quarterback dislocate his left (non-throwing) wrist on the team’s first offensive play from scrimmage, an incomplete pass.
No worries. That was four days before the outcome of the game would be decided.
After the Huskies’ three-and-out first series, the skies opened up and dumped so much rain on the Providence football field that the pylons indicating the yard lines were floating away, and all the fans were leaving, too.
Four days of dissecting those first 14 offensive plays by the Panthers, and a conservative game plan designed to protect backup quarterback Evan O’Connor were instrumental in the game’s outcome.
Here’s the part worth writing down:
The Huskies did not commit a turnover. They limited their penalties. Their defense didn’t allow any big plays and made the two biggest plays of the game.
“The key was to not beat ourselves,” said Collins.
Room for improvement
While the Huskies pulled out the victory, Collins acknowledged there are still lots of areas that need work. The Huskies had 11 offensive possessions and totaled 73 yards. Even on the teams’ first scoring drive, a penalty and a couple of plays that resulted in negative yards made for an interesting scoring drive summary: two yards on five plays in 1:59.
It took two minutes to go two yards. Then again, it took four days to play the game.
The bright spot
As for the Huskies defense, it dominated after the initial drive by the Panthers. The Panthers’ only glimpse of offensive success on Tuesday was thwarted by an interception by Tylan Murrell.
The game was essentially decided on back-to-back possessions midway through the third quarter. A bad snap from center on a punt gave Hough the ball at the Panthers 2, setting up the first touchdown of the game — a quarterback sneak by O’Connor.
On the next possession, Hough’s Isaac Aiken picked up a fumble by Providence running back Austin Rea and returned it 55 yards for a score, and a 14-3 Hough lead.
When Nate Mays intercepted a pass by Panthers quarterback James Haigh and returned it 55 yards to the Providence 2 on the last play of the third quarter, the Huskies started sensing their first victory since a Sept. 3, 2010, win against Waddell.
O’Connor’s 6-yard scoring strike to Quinn Augustine made the score 20-3 with 10:28 left in the game.
Providence struggled offensively until its final series, when the Panthers moved the ball to the Hough 1, but failed to punch the ball into the end zone on the game’s final play.
