Varsity Bucks go into ¨The Jungle¨ and Tame the Tigers

PHOTOS BY ALEXUS VICK

 Scott Boucher, Sports Writer

This past Friday night The Fighting Bucks hit the road to take on the South View Tigers. Previous games had the team coming out of the gates slow and looking to find their stride. Friday night was completely different. Hoke County kicked off and the defense set the tone for the night and created the early momentum he coaches were looking for all season. After forcing the Tigers to punt, #44 Orion Becton blocked the punt and got the scoop and score from 25 yards out to put the Fighting Bucks on the scoreboard 6-0. Kicker #27 Ryan Ramirez would convert the PAT to give the Bucks a 7-0 lead. The Tigers would find their offense, led by #23 Christian Rutledge´s 40-yard run, and find the end zone. The PAT was missed, leaving the score at 7-6 with 5 minutes left in the quarter. The Bucks would stall and be forced to punt back to the Tigers. With the Tigers driving, #19 Zion Smith would record a huge sack that would lead to the Tigers turning the ball over on downs.  The second would start with the Bucks offense gaining momentum and leading 7-6. From the Tigers 35-yard line QB Brandon Saunders would find #1 Warren Avery along the sideline for a 35-yard TD pass. With the Ryan Ramirez PAT the Bucks led 14-6 with 10 minutes left in the half. The defense would force another punt giving the Bucks good field position for their next drive. With a balanced attack of run and pass the Bucks found the end zone again on a 30-yard TD pass from Brandon Saunders to #85 Carson Powe. The PAT gave the Bucks a 21-6 lead at the mid-point of the 2nd quarter. The Tigers would find their offense to respond quickly as #11 Jaydon Richardson would connect for a 7-yard TD pass. Again the PAT failed leaving the score 21-12. Big plays would highlight the next Bucks drive as the offense was hitting on all cylinders leading to a 37-yard TD pass from Saunders to Warren Avery for the second time in the first half. Ryan Ramirez´s PAT gave the Bucks a 28-12 lead with less than two-minutes to play in the half. The ensuing kickoff would have South View´s #23 Christian Rutledge returns the kick 95 yards for a TD. The two-point conversion would and the Bucks led 28-18. The Bucks offense would run out the clock and the Bucks would go to the locker room up 28-18. The Bucks would receive the second half kick-off and start from its own 35 yard line. Senior RB #9 Ethan Wallace would find a hole on the next play and gallop 65 yards to the end zone. The PAT was missed giving the Bucks a 34-18 lead. On South View´s second possession of the half the Bucks forced a fumble recovered by #44 Orion Becton at the Tigers 44-yard line. The Buck offense drove deep into Tiger territory where Ryan Ramirez would connect on a 27-yard field goal and a 37-18 Buck lead. With under a minute to play in the quarter the tigers would turn the ball over on downs at their own 48-yard line. Ethan Wallace would score again on the next play with a 52-yard TD run. The PAT would give the Bucks a 44-18 lead going into the 4th quarter. South View would go into its two-minute offense to try and complete a comeback in the last quarter. Quick strikes from a Aahmad Carmichael 13-yard rushing TD and a 53-yard TD pass from Tariq Clarida to Malyk Mclean to cut the Buck lead to 44-32 with 6-minutes to play. The next Buck possession would find themselves starting at their own 10-yard line. Ethan Wallace would again find a lane and leave the defense behind as he would scamper 90 yards for his third TD of the game. THe PAT was missed, Hoke County 50 South View 32 with under 6 minutes to play. Aahmad Carmichael would score on the Tigers next drive to get the Tigers to within two scores at 50-38. South View would recover an onside kick and Tariq Clarida would connect on a 14-yard TD pass to make the score 50-44 with less than a minute to play. Hoke County would field the kick-off and run the clock out for the road win. RB Ethan Wallace, WR Warren Avery, and QB Brandon Saunders all contributed much of the success on offense to the offensive line. Wallace stated, ¨They made huge holes to run through and protected the quarterback.¨ They all also pointed out the confidence that came from Orion Becton´s blocked punt for a TD in the first quarter. Brandon Saunders would finish the night 11 for 18 passing for 236 yards and 3 TDs, Warren Avery would catch 4 passes for 115 yards with a long of 37 yards and two TDs. Ethan Wallace had a career high of 300 yards rushing on 24 carries as well as 48 yards on 4 catches, 31 kick return yards for a total of 379 all purpose yards, and 3 TDs. Senior Te´john Darden led the Bucks defense with 9 tackles while Orion Becton had a punt block TD and a fumble recovery.

Photos by Alexus Vick

Scott Boucher, Sports Writer

JV Bucks Come Up Short at Home

 The Hoke County JV football team hosted its first home game against the South View Tigers. The first quarter saw neither offense able to gain any momentum. Both defenses did their job to force a series of punts from both teams. The second quarter would start with the in possession of the football. A series of miscues led to South View getting on the scoreboard with a safety to take a 2-0 lead with 9:00 left in the half. The ensuing kickoff would have the Tigers in Buck territory. A long TD run would put the Tigers up 8-0 after the PAT failed. The Bucks would get one drive deep into Tiger territory but would turn the ball over on downs. South View would take an 8-0 lead into halftime. The defense would do its job to start the second half forcing a punt. A long run from #5 RB - Landen Hollingsworth would get the Bucks down to the ten yard line. On the next play #34 Nasir Wells would take it to the house to put the Bucks on the scoreboard. The PAT would fail leaving the score at 8-6. The Tigers would take advantage of field position late in the quarter to take a 16-8 lead into the 4th quarter. The Bucks were unable to take advantage of an interception from #23 Teymari Thomas and would turn the ball over deep in Tiger territory. The Buck defense stood its ground to record a safety mid-way through the quarter to make the score 16-8. The defenses held the offenses in check the rest of the way and South View was able to run out the clock for the road victory 16-8.