BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Eastside quarterback Holden Johnson threw three touchdowns in the first half as the host Rams put the Keystone Heights High School football team in a hole it simply couldn’t afford to be in, with the result being a 26-0 loss for the Indians in their season opener on Sept. 1 in Gainesville.
The Indians, who travel to play Fort White on Friday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m., rely on a run-heavy offense and simply can’t afford to fall behind by a large margin. Head Coach Chuck Dickinson said he would’ve felt good if his team had gone into halftime down only 13-0, but Eastside, with 2:23 left in the half, put together a seven-play, 61-yard touchdown drive to take a 20-0 lead.
“When they scored that touchdown with about a minute left in the half — that’s tough to come back from with what we do offensively,” Dickinson said. “We’re not very good throwing right now.”
Keystone (0-1) had sporadic success on offense, going three-and-out on only three of its nine drives. However, the Indians only crossed Eastside’s 40-yard line twice.
More often than not, a missed blocking assignment or a fumbled snap would negate whatever positive gains a drive had going for it.
“Offensively, we couldn’t sustain anything,” Dickinson said. “We had some good plays. They gave us some things, but we just couldn’t capitalize on them.”
Eastside’s offense averaged 12 yards per play and rolled up 425 total yards. Johnson completed 9 of 17 passes for 237 yards and four touchdowns, with Antoneo Wilson catching four passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.
“We knew they were going to be tough to cover,” Dickinson said. “They have big-play threats and a great concept offensively, I think.”
The Rams (2-0) struck on the game’s first possession. Johnson used his legs to gain his team’s initial first down, faking a handoff to Micah Hudson and running for a 23-yard gain to the Keystone 37. Johnson then completed a 33-yard pass to Wilson before connecting with Davion Pugh for a 4-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead at the 9:41 mark of the opening quarter. Caleb Dressel’s PAT was no good.
Landon Hovsepian gave Keystone a first down on its first series with a 4-yard run. Quarterback Ben Ulsch then picked up a fumbled snap and ran for a 7-yard gain to later set up third-and-3, but Bryar Schenck was tackled for a 3-yard loss, forcing Keystone to punt.
The Indians’ Reid Begue broke up a third-down pass play on Eastside’s next drive, which forced the Rams to punt after driving past midfield.
Trey Jeffries converted a fourth-and-1 play with a 2-yard run for Keystone on its second series, but two consecutive run plays that netted 0 yards forced Keystone to punt after an incomplete pass on third down.
Schenck made a play for the defense when he recovered a botched lateral by the Rams, giving the Indians the ball at the Eastside 49. Keystone’s offense, though, went three-and-out.
A holding penalty negated a big run by Eastside’s Hudson, backing the Rams up to their own 10. Johnson hit Wilson in stride along the home team’s sideline for what would be a 90-yard touchdown pass, putting Eastside ahead 13-0 with 6:55 to play in the second quarter. The PAT was no good.
Hovsepian and Cartez Daniels each had two runs for 15 yards on the following series to help the Indians move from their own 15 to the 48. An offsides penalty gave Keystone a third-and-2 play at the Eastside 48, but a fumbled snap resulted in a loss of 2 yards, forcing Keystone to punt.
Johnson completed six passes for 60 yards on Eastside’s final drive of the half, which was capped by Antonio Hubbert’s 29-yard touchdown reception with 54 seconds left until halftime. Charles Sawyer added the PAT for a 20-0 lead.
Keystone had a promising drive going to start the second half, thanks to a 23-yard run by Daniels to convert a third-and-17 play. A 7-yard run by Schenck gave the Indians a first down at midfield, while a 1-yard run by Jeffries converted a fourth-down play and moved Keystone to the Eastside 40. A fumbled snap and a penalty later forced the Indians into a third-and-10 play before they fumbled the ball away.
Eastside couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, but the Rams did find the end zone on their second possession of the half. The Rams drove 65 yards on four plays. Hubbert had a 25-yard run, while Johnson completed two passes for 50 yards — the second being a 15-yard touchdown to Jemall Dix as time expired in the third quarter. Sawyer added the PAT for the 26-0 final.
The Indians finished with 169 yards of offense — all on the ground. Hovsepian rushed for 58 yards on nine carries, while Daniels had 46 yards on seven carries. Schenck added 43 yards on 13 carries.
Hovsepian and Ulsch led the defense with eight tackles each. Jeffies, who had two sacks, finished with five tackles.
Keystone next faces Class 1R Fort White, which is 0-2 after a 34-17 loss to Class 1R Newberry. Fort White went 5-5 last season, with one of its losses coming against Keystone by a score of 30-14.
