Huron’s football season ended Friday night at Hornet Stadium, losing to Saline 10-7 and exiting the playoffs in the first round for the second year in a row.  The Rats fought hard in this low-scoring affair, with the defense playing stelar all night. The offense didn’t however, only putting up seven points and having few productive drives.

RECAP:

Saline got out to an early 7-0 lead after a pass interference penalty on 4th and 13 put them in position for a 16 yard CJ Carr touchdown pass. The Huron defense got Saline to a 4th and 8, and after a false start penalty made it 4th and 13 the crucial penalty led directly to Saline’s only touchdown on the night.  SImilar mistakes at inopportune times played a huge role throughout the rest of the game, as penalties could very well be looked at as a culprit for this loss.

It didn’t take long for Huron to strike back with its best offensive drive of the night, 90% of which can be credited to Sophomore Star Kameron Flowers.  Flowers took a slant route over the middle and showed off his combo agility and burner speed as he weaved through the Saline defense taking it 70 yards inside the Hornet 10 yard line.  Although it took the rats four plays, they did cash in and tied the game at seven with a 2 yard touchdown run. Notably, Huron had to use back to back timeouts before the touchdown run. Senior lineman Camerone Brown’s helmet came off on third down, causing him to have to sit out the fourth down play. Huron called a timeout before the ensuing fourth down attempt, but coming out of the timeout the Rats were confused whether or not Brown could be in the game. Huron couldn’t get the proper personnel in as a result, and they had to use their second straight timeout without running a play. 

Huron put together another solid drive right before halftime, and the rats converted a 4th and 2 opportunity from the Saline 36 with 50 seconds to go in the half.  After Huron used its final timeout, a Donel Green catch seemingly got the rats deeper into field goal range, but a 15 yard personal foul penalty on Huron pushed them back close midfield. Huron got the ball into position for a field goal attempt, but Senior Kicker Adam Samaha missed the 54 yarder to keep the game tied at 7. The penalty combined with the earlier mix up that left Huron with only one timeout prevented a more makeable field goal attempt.

After forcing a Saline punt on their first drive of the second half, Huron got the ball on its own nine yard line.  The rats’ offense put together a nice drive with a combination of two Andrew Harding passes as he was dragged to the ground and a 4th and one pickup on their own 40.  After two Donel Green runs for a total of 20 more yards, he got another carry and put the ball on the ground.  Saline recovered to put an end to the drive. 

After the teams traded punts in the late third and early fourth quarters, Saline drove the ball down inside the Huron 40 yard line with eight minutes to go.  The first of two decisive penalties was a facemask by the Huron defense on a third down that moved Saline down to the Huron 24.  Three plays later the Huron defense forced a 4th and one attempt for the Hornets, which the rats jumped offsides on, giving away yet another first down.  Even though Huron got a red zone stop, Saline made a 24 yard field goal, which proved to be the game winning kick after the Rat’s offense couldn’t put anything together on its final possession.

TURNING POINT:

Senior Running Back Donel Green’s fumble in the third quarter.  Aside from the earlier touchdown drive, this was Huron’s best offensive possession of the game.  The defense had a great series and forced a punt to get the ball back, and to have the offense put together a nice drive, getting the ball inside the Saline 40 and fumbling it was crushing.  The offense couldn’t get anything going after that and this proved to be a huge momentum shifting play even though Saline didn’t score on the ensuing possession.

WHY HURON LOST: 

             Ill-timed penalties–some of them questionable calls– and a lack of productive drives on offense were the biggest reasons for the season ending loss.  Multiple offside and neutral zone infraction penalties on third and fourth downs, more than one questionable defensive pass interference call and the biggest penalty being the personal foul near the end of the first half that ultimately resulted in a long field goal attempt. This coupled with the fact that the offense just wasn’t productive enough, is why Huron’s season is over. Huron was also missing key players across the offensive line was definitely a factor in the offense’s struggles. Starters Laith Samaha (12) and Sam Mungar (11) were both out due to injuries in this game, and they were both sorely missed on the offensive line.  Because of these injuries, the Rats had to play musical chairs along the line.  Camerone Brown and Bruce Williams both played snaps at guard and because of Mungar’s absence, the backup, Junior Vincent Stevens played center. These injuries without question played a part in the loss.

HURON DEFENSE: Huron’s defense played an unbelievable game for 60 straight minutes, holding Notre Dame commit CJ Carr and the Hornet offense to only 10 points and limited their production. Simply put, the Rats’ defense played more than well enough to win this game.  Defensive backs Zyers Ruff (12) and Torrence Greene (12), Linebackers Elijah Hayward (11) and Elijah Easley (11) and defensive lineman Bruce Williams (12) all played stout games.  Williams had pressure on Carr on multiple third and fourth down plays, Hayward and Easley were brilliant running sideline to sideline and stopping the screen pass-heavy Saline offense, as were Ruff and Greene getting off blocks by the Saline receivers on the outside. The entire Rats secondary played an outstanding game, shutting down any kind of downfield pass attempts from Carr.  Safety Jamil Thomas (12) was great in one-on-one coverage on the outside, making multiple pass breakups in the red zone while Greene handled the traditional single-high safety duties in the defense Huron runs most of the time. This loss is not on the defense, and aside from those few inopportune penalties, it’s impossible to criticize the performance of Huron’s defense.  The gameplan was clear, limit downfield passing opportunities and make Saline throw underneath and run the ball to be productive on offense, and this plan worked to a T.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR HURON FOOTBALL: After coming off the best season in a decade of Huron football, a 5-5 performance with close losses to Dexter and Saline twice is disappointing.  Majority of the starting 22 is out the door after this loss and will have to be replaced.  On the bright side, Huron will avoid a problem it faced this season: a new quarterback. Assuming Harding returns for the 2023 season, he will be the day one starter. The other bright spot is of course, Kameron Flowers, who should continue to blossom into a star and garner more attention from division one schools.  The QB-WR connection should thrive and lead the Rats offense for next season.  The other two sides of the ball however, won’t be as fortunate.  Huron will lose most of its starters on defense as well as Punter/Kicker Adam Samaha and his backup.  The defense and special teams have a lot to replace looking into next season.