Hercules Stonewalls Rodriguez

Before the touchdowns, before the big hits, before the Friday Night Lights, first things first: a sign of respect

Amid one of, if not the worst tragedies in American history, the Hercules Titans and the Rodriguez Mustangs took time to respect those who died 14 years ago on September 11th, 2001.

In the house were former police officers and members of the United States Marines and Army, all of who received a big round of applause.

Right before kick off, with the American flag half-way mounted, the Titans and Mustangs took a moment of silence.

Then, it was time to ball.

It was apparent early that passing the ball wasn’t going to be a recipe for success for either team. The vicious winds blowing in made it difficult to throw it deep with reasonable accuracy.

“We got back to our speed and the ground game,” said coach Gerald Montgomery.

Hercules was able to easily adapt, falling back on their consistently strong run game, which carried the offense for most of the game. The offensive line was able to open holes for their rushes and the Hercules offensive thrived.

All three touchdowns came via the run game. Senior Earnest Jackson and juniors Darius Miller and Thomas Wright Jr all were able to contribute with their own respective touchdown runs.

“Our offensive line is strong,” said Montgomery. “They spent the whole summer in the weight room, even back since January.”

The real star of the game was the defense. The Titans stonewalled the Mustangs, forming an air-tight cohesive unit that was able to kill of any noise the Mustangs’s offense made.

In what was such a low-scoring affair for most of the game, the defense was able to pick up the team and lead them to their third straight victory.

“It feels great to win on the road,” said Montgomery. “This is the first time we’ve been 3-0 since I’ve coached here.”

Hercules will play Ygnacio Valley (1-2) next week. Ygnacio Valley is coming off of a huge 60-20 victory against Elsie Allen.

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