H--town goes to playoffs for first time

Football team routs L-town, is third seed in 3A South region

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007

The win secured the Hurricanes a No. 3 seed in the 3A South regional playoffs.

Thanks to two separate 50-yard special teams touchdowns, that courtesy of Chaz Hall on a punt return and a kick return, the Hurricanes were able to celebrate their first playoff berth and their first winning season.

‘‘Winning tonight was the first step,” Hall said. ‘‘Quite honestly this was a playoff game right here tonight. It’s a big step going into the playoffs, we just have to keep the intensity going into the playoffs.”

Hall’s first return came just before halftime in which he caught a short kickoff and returned it 50 yards with no time remaining on the clock. The return gave the Hurricanes a 29-6 lead after the two-point conversion was successful.

Hall returned his second 50-yarder early in the fourth quarter on the heels of a Leonardtown punt, giving the Hurricanes the 36-6 lead, where the score would remain.

‘‘My teammates have been telling me all season that I would get my chance,” Hall said, ‘‘and tonight I got my chance. When I got that chance I did what I had to do. My team formed some good holes for me to run through and I just followed.”

‘‘It has been a long time coming,” Hurricanes head coach Jerry Franks said. ‘‘They have been working four years to get to this point. We felt coming into the season we had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. We had some injuries at the start of the season but the kids never gave up they stayed in there.”

Opposite of Hall’s two touchdowns scored, running back Nick Lewis scored two touchdowns as well on 11 carries for 87 yards.

‘‘My offensive line was just blowing people up at the point,” Lewis said. ‘‘I just had to go North and South. We are riding off of two wins and we are just going to try and carry the momentum into the playoffs.”

Not to get lost in the storm, Leonardtown head coach Anthony Pratley has taken a Raiders team that was 1-9 last season and has produced a season this year much better than previous years.

The Raiders, who finish the season with a record of 3-7 and 3-5 in the SMAC, won three consecutive games this season, a feat not accomplished in 10 years.

‘‘I am really proud of what we accomplished this year,” Pratley said. ‘‘It’s not always about wins and losses, especially in your first year, it is about making strides. We have made some tremendous strides this year.”

The Hurricanes (7-3, 6-2) have their goals set high this year as they enter the playoffs with a contest against the second-seeded Westlake Wolverines at 7 p.m. Friday.

‘‘What my team has to understand is that now, there is no tomorrow,” Franks said, ‘‘it’s today. You have to win today, you have to play today every play because there is no tomorrow.

‘‘That has to be the thing I have to get them to understand. There is no game next week if you don’t win this one.”

Hall seems to already have had the no tomorrow lesson well under wraps.

‘‘Our goal is to get to states,” Hall said. ‘‘We have to realize that we are either going to win or go home. We have to bring our all for the rest of the year, there is no tomorrow.”

‘‘Enjoy this one,” Franks told his team, ‘‘but keep things in proper perspective and we have to come back and start working.”

E-mail James A. McCray III at jmccray@somdnews.com.