Wildcats find range against Troopers

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HAMMOND --  Go figure.

Hammond High quarterback Antwion McGee was having a tough night making connections with his running backs while running the Hammond option Friday night against Wirt.

Five times in the first half, McGee tried to pitch the ball to his running backs -- estimated distance, about a yard -- and five times McGee missed.

"I think it was the glove I had on," McGee said. "The end (for Wirt) was crashing every time.  I don't know. I just had a bad night pitching."

A bad night pitching from close range for sure. It was when McGee went long distance against the Troopers that the gloves came off for the Wildcats.

McGee's first four completions went for touchdowns  while the sophomore ran for two more as Hammond beat Wirt 46-14 in a game that was actually close for the first three quarters before the Wildcats (4-1) put it away in the fourth.

"We could have played a lot better," said wide receiver Kendall Harwell who caught two TD passes for the Wildcats.  "We started off sluggish but we picked it up in the second half.  We have to practice this week and work on our pitches and ball control."

Harwell has a point.

In the first half, Hammond dominated Wirt statistically, picking up 237 yards total offense to Wirt's 37. But midway through the second quarter, Hammond led only 8-6, thanks to numerous turnovers, a problem that needs to be rectified ASAP with Morton and Lowell next on the Wildcats schedule.

That's when Hammond ditched the pitch and freed McGee to throw the football downfield. The strategy worked with McGee throwing two of his TD passes in the second quarter, hitting Harwell for 17 yards and Robert Stone for 35.

Harwell's second TD catch in the third quarter was a thing of beauty, with the junior making a one handed catch before scampering to paydirt from 26 yards.

"We called a fade because I saw the linebackers blitzing from the outside and I just threw it up there for him to go get it," McGee said.  "That Morton game is real big for us so we need to have a good week of practice and come out strong against Morton."

Kick returner Darion Oren was the offensive star for the Troopers, returning a kick 70 yards for a score, then returning another 52 yards, setting up a Kendall Johnson 28 yard TD score to Kane San Miguel. The area's number two sack man Kevin James had ten tackles for Wirt but the Trooper defense could not solve the Hammond offense which picked up 446 yards.