Trey Blakeney, No. 7 Hough too much for No. 8 Myers Park on Saturday

It took a little longer than normal, but Hough finally beat Myers Park for its first win of the 2024 high school football season.

Led by quarterback Trey Blakeney and a tough defense, the Huskies (1-1) rolled over the Mustangs 52-13 on Saturday afternoon in a game that began Friday night.

What started out as a 90-minute delay for lightning from a line of thunderstorms became an overnight wait as nearly four dozen Observer-area games were either postponed or canceled outright.

Yet first-year Hough head coach DeShawn Baker wasn’t worried about a letdown — especially after what happened in the Huskies’ season opener last week against Northwestern of Rock Hill, a 45-44 loss after blowing a 19-point lead.

“I thought we did great — we came out and we wanted to finish,” Baker said. “We didn’t finish last week when we got up. Once we got up on (Myers Park), we didn’t take our foot off the gas pedal.

“The boys fought through the adversity of starting the game last night, and having to come back. I’m just happy with their performance.”

A big part of that came from Blakeney, who threw for a season- and career-high six touchdowns — three of those to Tyran Evans in the second half — as Hough pulled out to its biggest margin of victory since last fall’s 63-6 win over Harding.

The Huskies’ senior quarterback threw for two touchdowns in the first quarter — an 11-yarder to Jycen Anciso and a 32-yarder to Sean Brady — before play was called Friday night.

Blakeney then picked up where he left off Saturday, with four more TD passes in two quarters before Baker went to his second- and third-stringers. He found Ja’Don Rourk on a 39-yard score and Evans for 17 yards in the second quarter, then hit Evans twice more in the third (17 and 12 yards).

The Huskies capped their scoring when second-string quarterback Ethan Royal scored on a 10-yard keeper midway through the fourth quarter. That gave the Huskies a 45-point lead — and started the running clock.

Myers Park (0-2) avoided a shutout behind quarterback Jaed Lockhart, who threw for one touchdown (a 13-yarder to Chaz Porter in the second quarter) and ran for a game-ending second TD (a four-yarder) as time expired.

“That’s a good football team — there’s a reason they’ve been as successful over the years,” Mustangs head coach Chris James said. “You run into a team like this, you have to be able to execute your system in order to give yourself a shot. I don’t feel like we executed like we are capable of today.”

Three who made a difference

Trey Blakeney, Hough: The Huskies’ starting quarterback finished with a season-high 245 passing yards and six TDs, completing 18 of 24 attempts. He also ran for 22 yards on six carries.

Kandler Happe, Hough: The replacement record-setting kicker Nolan Houser, Happe went 7-for-7 on his extra-point kicks, and added a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter. Just as important, his kickoffs – eight of his nine went into the end zone – kept Myers Park pinned back in its own territory.

Hough’s defense: The Huskies sacked Lockhart seven times — three of those coming from senior defensive end Cameron Cyr — and held the Mustangs to 241 yards total offense and 11 first downs.

Notable

One area Baker admitted Hough’s players needed to work on was their discipline, after the Huskies were whistled for four personal four or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The unsportsmanlike conduct call will cost Hough one of its starters — junior linebacker Maddox Blackburn — for at least the next game after he punched a Myers Park player while on the ground in the second quarter.

Coming up

Hough will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for its next game against Carolina Forest High on Friday night. Meanwhile, Myers Park is also on the road, playing at Sun Valley in Monroe on Friday night.

GAME SUMMARY

MYERS PARK 0 7 0 6 – 13

HOUGH 14 14 17 7 – 52

First Quarter

H—Jycen Anciso 11 pass from Trey Blakeney (Kandler Happe kick), 7:32.

H—Sean Brady 32 pass from Blakeney (Happe kick), 4:36.

Second Quarter

H – Ja’Don Rourk 39 pass from Blakeney (Happe kick), 10:32.

H--Tyran Evans 17 pass from Blakeney (Happe kick), 5:19.

MP—Chaz Portis 13 pass from Jared Lockhart (James Remsen kick), 1:36.

Third Quarter

H—Evans 17 pass from Blakeney (Happe kick), 8:32.

H—Evans 12 pass from Blakeney (Happe kick), 7:14.

H—Happe 31 FG, 1:16.

Fourth Quarter

H—Ethan Royal 10 run (Happe kick), 6:16.

MP—Lockhart 4 run, 0:00.