On Friday night, the Frenship Tigers took on the Abilene Eagles. Frenship, who was coming off a 4OT thriller win against Monterey, was looking to continue their dominant undefeated streak. Abilene was coming into this game and looking to bounce back after a loss to Midland Legacy last week. This game was all defense, forcing it to come down to the final drive.
Wolfforth Frenship Tigers
Frenship Senior Quarterback Hudson Hutcheson led the Tiger’s offense by throwing for 226 yards, completing 19 of his 31 attempts, and would rush for 67 yards. Hutcheson was able to connect with multiple receivers, including Leyton Stone, Chase Campbell, and Brooks Roberson. Junior Leyton Stone made a name for himself as he caught nine passes for 129 yards and a 9-yard receiving touchdown at the end of the first half. Chase Campbell caught five passes for 37 yards, and Brooks Roberson had one catch for 19 yards.
Frenship relied heavily on the air raid offense, as they had trouble on the ground the whole night. Running back Landon Hutcheson, brother of the quarterback Hudson Hutcheson, was only able to gain 6 yards on seven touches for the night, including a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second half. In addition to his few rushing yards, he was able to get 4 receptions for 41 yards. Landon Hutcheson struggled on the ground that night, and powerhouse running back Jaden Tackett struggled throughout the game, getting stuck behind the line many times. Jaden Tackett would rush for only 5 yards on 9 touches and was not targeted on any passing plays.
Frenship’s defense, after giving up 52 last week in their win vs. Monterey, held Abilene to just 12 points. Frenship’s fast and physical defense is led by Senior linebacker Caydin Blakely, who had 12 tackles and 1 sack. Junior Hudson Simpson also helped Frenship’s defense with a total of 14 tackles for the game.
Abilene Eagles
Abilene was looking to bounce back this week after struggling last week against Midland Legacy 48-17. The defense kept Abilene in the game by making it impossible for Frenship to run the ball. Continuing from last week, Safety Beckham Paul started off hot by getting himself another interception in the first quarter. Another Eagle that got himself an interception was Tre Sharp, who was all over the field covering receivers, forcing Frenship to try and throw away from him. This Abilene defense was making it hard through the air, and their run defense was brutal by holding Frenship to 78 total rushing yards. The entire Abilene defense was blowing up the Frenship backfield and was swarming to the ball, making it impossible for the running backs to break free. The Eagles would force Frenship to stick to their passing game the rest of the night. With the defense looking sharp, the offense kept fighting back all game, trying to get ahead of Frenship.
Abilene’s offense had one plan last night: to pound the ball through the Frenship defense, but it fell short. Senior Quarterback Dylan Slack was trying to settle for more than field goals as he completed 8 passes off 13 attempts for 67 yards and had 9 yards rushing off 3 attempts. Sophomore Quarterback Brayden Henry, who is a shifty threat, was bobbing and weaving through defenders all night, but it was only enough to get himself a 9-yard rushing touchdown. Henry finished his night rushing for 77 yards off 4 touches and went 3 for 4 passing for 39 yards. Most of the rushing plays we saw from Abilene were quarterback draws and handoffs to running back Dezhon Magee, who had 54 yards off 18 touches. Magee was a powerhouse for Abilene, and even though he couldn’t find himself in the endzone, he got his team’s first downs and into scoring positions.
Abilene would fall to Frenship 17-12
Next week, Frenship travels to Rio Rancho to play a 3-2 Cleveland team who is coming off a 36-34 loss to Artesia, and Abilene will continue its search to bounce back against 2-2 Monterey, who is coming off a loss to midland 36-8.
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