Hawks running attack chews through Buccaneers

HOUSTON — The Houston Hawks had no problem going around, through and over the Valdez Buccaneers, cruising to a 26-0 win Saturday in their 2012 home football opener.

In a game that saw the Hawks dominate on both sides of the ball, it wasn’t until the two-minute warning before halftime that the Valdez defense finally seemed to toughen up, stuffing running back Waylon Soptick at the line of scrimmage twice and sacking quarterback Nai Saechao. On fourth down, Saechao looked to be trapped behind the line of scrimmage. The shifty signal caller saw no open receivers, evaded one would-be tackler and broke another tackle before shoveling the ball to Soptick.

Soptick fought through three Buccaneers to move the ball 30 yards to the 1-yard line. Saechao would punch it in for the score with just under a minute to play in the first half giving Houston a 20-0 cushion going into the locker room.

The Hawks offense struck early and often to open state small schools play. Saechao, a junior making his first varsity start, completed an 11-yard pass to River Ross to put the Hawks in the end zone first.

“It was up to our defense in the first half. They gave us good field position and our linemen broke really good holes for our backs to run through,” Saechao said.

With 1:55 remaining in the first quarter, sophomore Aarin Paul picked up a crucial fumble behind the Valdez line of scrimmage. Soptick, a junior, took over from that point, breaking off runs of 14 and 25 yards before punching in a six-yard score to extend the lead to 12-0.

Houston's toughest opponent at times seemed to be themselves. After a pair of offside penalties on one drive, the Hawks let the Valdez punter drop the ball, then run 20 yards for a first down. When the Hawks finally got the ball back, it looked like they had lost momentum.

But Saechao, who finished the game with 89 yards rushing, sparked the Houston fire again, finding the end zone. The Hawks scored the two-point conversion, but it was called back on a penalty. Backed up 10 yards, Saechao rifled a pass to Calen Burton for the exclamation point to put the Hawks up 18-0 at the break. Soptick had 105 first-half yards to lead all rushers, and finished with a game-high 167 yards.

“I think this style of football fits our school well,” said first-year head coach Todd Whitehurst of his veer option offense. “You don't need to have the biggest, best athletes, just throw different people in the mix. Option football is one of the most beautiful things if you can get enough reps and a system to build for years.”

That veer would get more work in the second have as the Hawks started where they left off in the first half. After Saechao scampered 20 yards to put the ball inside the Valdez 30 yard line, he completed a 25-yard pass to River Ross to cap the scoring.

Houston worked hard at football camps Outside to prepare for the season, Whitehurst said, problems that come with inexperience were evident. With hot weather and fatigue becoming a major factor in the second half, more mistakes crept into play. Whitehurst said he hopes to improve the team's conditioning, as well as the little things like not fumbling snaps and holding onto the ball.

While Houston's offense showed some life to open the season, it was the Hawks defense that truly established dominance early. Playing mostly the same personnel on both sides of the ball, Soptick and Saechao each had an interception inside their own red zone in the fourth quarter to help preserve the shutout.

“I thought we looked really good, I was really impressed, Whitehurst said. “Our offense is definitely ahead of where they were last year.”