Fireworks on the field, off in Houston homecoming win

HOUSTON — Houston head coach and activities director Norm Bouchard has been waiting for this for years — a homecoming game on a Friday night.

But there’s a new era at Houston High, with brand new field lights. Gone are the seasons with all of the home games on Saturday afternoons. The Hawks can finally host home games on Friday nights. And to recognize the Hawks’ first homecoming game on Friday night in school history, there was something special planned.

“Bob Hall, owner of Gorilla Fireworks, and I have been talking for years. He said as soon as you do get lights, I will put on a show people will talk about for years,” Bouchard said.

And Hall did, lighting up the Big Lake area skyline with giant balls of color.

But as it turned out the Hawks also put on a show fans will be talking about for years.

Houston topped large-schools Lathrop 37-20 at Houston High Friday night.

“It was a fantastic night,” Bouchard said.

Senior Tyler Barron rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns, and seniors Russ Ruta and Beau Frank also scored to help the Hawks improve to 3-3 overall.

Houston held a slim 17-14 lead at halftime, but Barron scored twice during the second half to help the Hawks hold of the Railbelt Conference’s Malemutes.

Barron, who rushed for 147 yards during a loss to Kenai Central last week, was limited in practice this week, Bouchard said. After the loss to Kenai, Bouchard said Barron had to be taken to the hospital due to extreme dehydration. The Hawks limited his work to try to keep him healthy.

“He probably had five carries (in practice) all week long, but in the second half we said, hey, we’re going to just go back to smashmouth football,” Bouchard said.

Barron scored from 3 yards out during the second quarter and added a 10-yard run in the third. Late in the game, Barron muscled into the end zone for a 1-yard run.

Bouchard also praised the work of Ruta, who scored on a 12-yard run to give the Hawks the 7-0 lead.

“Russell has been a workhorse for us all year,” Bouchard said. “He’s been such a leader and hard worker.”

Gabe Cunningham tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Kaelan Lee in the first half. The Malemutes also returned a touchdown for a score in the first half to tie the score at 14.

Houston senior Jake Wells kicked a 38-yard field goal during the tail end of the second quarter to give the Hawks the 17-14 advantage.

Cunningham threw another touchdown pass in the second half, connecting with Lee on an 88-yard score. Cunningham found Lee in the flats, and Lee did the remainder of the work, scampering the distance for the touchdown.

Bouchard said its huge for Houston High, a school which boasts just more than 400 students, to beat a school such as Lathrop, with a student body three-times that size.

“When you see it on your schedule, you put a target on it. This is big for us. We’ve been struggling a little bit this year, but we felt like this was an obtainable win,” Bouchard said. “We watched them beat Colony this year and we can say we can compete with Colony this year. This is big for the confidence of our kids. We need this right now.”

Bouchard also praised the defensive game plan put together by coordinator Jared Barrett.

“He really put together a nice scheme against the guys,” Bouchard said. “We’re not a great coverage team, and to keep a team that throws the ball 70 percent of the time in check is big.”

Bouchard said Nai Saechao stood out in the defensive backfield.

“He did a really good job. He made a lot of big tackles, when they dumped the ball off,” Bouchard said. “They went to him long a couple times and he had two big knockdowns.”

Bouchard said he’s very thankful Gorilla Fireworks and the Big Lake Lions club teamed with Houston High to produce the homecoming fireworks show.

“It was pretty awesome,” Bouchard said.