Homer option attack grinds on Houston

HOUSTON — With a pounding running game and a cadre of running backs, the Homer Mariners rolled over the Houston Hawks at Terry Shurtleff field on Saturday.

Quarterback Cole Jacobsen led an option-based offensive scheme that gave the Mariners a 56-6 victory over the Hawks. Jeremiah Carr was the go-to runner from a packed backfield, leading all players with 158 yards on 15 touches and three touchdowns.

While the Hawks were dealt their fourth crushing loss in a row, they did mange to get on the scoreboard for the first time this season.

“We’re young, and we know were young,” Houston head coach Norm Bouchard said. “We are making improvements by steps.”

The sun was shining for the afternoon kickoff. The Mariners started with good field position after a kickoff return to midfield. The offense made quick work of the Hawks defense, and Carr scored on the fifth play of the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run.

Houston’s first drive was helped by a pass interference call on the first play. Despite the hard running of Brandon Dukes, the Hawks were stalled by a fumbled exchange between the center and the quarterback. The snap would be a problem that plagued the Hawks all day.

“The fumble snaps got in our heads. (Homer) started seeing it and put a five-man front on it. This added some more pressure. That’s just good coaching by coach (Cam) Wyatt,” Bouchard said.

After turning the ball over inside Houston’s 5 yard line, the Mariners forced the Hawks to go three-and-out. With a poor punt, Homer had the ball four yards shy of the red zone. Following a 16-yard run by David Craig, Carr recorded his second touchdown of the day.

The Hawks had another fumbled snap on another three-and-out drive. A 10-play drive gave the Mariners a 21-0 lead after a 12-yard Jacobsen run. Another fumbled snap gave the ball right back to Homer, and another Jacobsen run put his team up 28-0.

After a solid return on the kickoff, the Hawks had the ball at their own 40. A Mariner personal foul on a Tyler Barron run brought the ball to Homer’s 41. In his first touch of the game, Colton Buzby ran left, picked up a few key blocks, and lumbered down the sideline for Houston’s first points of the season. The extra point was deflected at the line of scrimmage.

“We want to learn from that scoring experience. The kids now understand that’s the feeling you want,” Bouchard said.

Riding this momentum, the Hawks recovered an onside kick attempt. However, two more fumbles destroyed any wave they were riding. Houston recovered their next punt, but an illegal block gave the ball back to the Mariners.

Homer had their way with Houston’s defense, and Carr scored his third touchdown with four seconds left in the first half.

“We had a really hard time with the sweep right. We were trying to make adjustments on the field, but we really needed halftime to talk about that with our inexperienced kids,” Bouchard said.

The second half saw a little more back and fourth, but the Mariners proved too much for the Hawks. Cody Shealy threw a dart to Alex Ball early in the third, Jacobsen added to his two rushing scores with one through the air caught by Peter Hendrickson, and Craig delivered the death blow with a six-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

Any movement Houston mustered was wiped away with fumbled snaps.

“We had a couple kids hurt. Four starters were not playing today,” Bouchard said. “Our defensive end was playing free safety, so it’s understandable they beat us on some third-and-longs. I admire him for working hard. … Now we focus on the positives and prepare for Ketchikan.”

Homer travels to South Anchorage for a non-conference game this week.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.

HOMER 56, HOUSTON 6

Saturday, Terry Shurtleff Field

First Quarter

Homer — Carr 23 run (Walswoth kick) 9:38.

Homer — Carr 8 run (Walswoth kick) 1:30.

Second Quarter

Homer — Jacobsen 12 run (Walswoth kick) 7:44.

Homer — Jacobsen 1 run (Walswoth kick) 4:40.

Houston — Buzby 41 run (kick failed) 4:08.

Homer — Carr 7 run (Walsoth kick) 0:04.

Third Quarter

Homer — Ball 39 pass from Shealy (Walsoth kick) 8:13.

Homer — Hendrickson 34 pass from Jacobsen (Walsoth kick) 2:08.

Fourth Quarter

Homer — Craig 6 run (Walsoth kick) 11:10.

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — Homer: Carr 15-158, Jacobsen 6-42, Craig 12-50, Resetarits 2-8, Shealy 3-15, Frank 1-8, Guarin 1-(-1); Houston: Buzby 3-48, Dukes 5-7, Frank 4-(-23), Barron 4-10, Ruta 1-(-4).

PASSING — Homer: Jacobsen 3-9-0 67, Shealy 2-2-0 60; Houston: Frank 6-11-0 40, Qual 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING — Homer: Ball 2-62, Craig 1-10, Jantzi 1-21, Hendrickson 1-34; Houston: Buzby 2-22, Barron 2-9, Ruta 1-2, Qual 1-7.