Draft does it again

STUARTS DRAFT — Even the sprinklers got into the act.
As if on cue, the end zone sprinklers erupted in a shower of water as D.J. Hines sprinted 50 yards to pay dirt.
The third quarter score pushed Stuarts Draft to a two-touchdown lead as the Cougars exploded for five unanswered touchdowns in a 35-7 drubbing of Riverheads Friday night.
Hines also scored the go-ahead TD late in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 124 yards on just eight carries, a gaudy 15.5 yards per carry. Last week’s hero, Travis Shifflett, also broke the century mark with 100 yards on 14 carries. The senior also added two scores.
But it was the Cougar defense that rose to the occasion, forcing four Gladiator turnovers including two fumble recoveries by junior Michael Hicklin.
Hicklin was a beast in the Cougar secondary. He made nine tackles — including five solos — broke up a huge third-down pass in the Gladiator red zone, forced a fumble and recovered two loose balls. All in a day’s work.
“I just wanted to play [hard] for my teammates,” Hicklin said. “I just wanted to play with courage.”
Hicklin was a thorn in the side of the Gladiators. On just the visitor’s second play from scrimmage, Hicklin hit Riverheads running back Cory Sandridge and stripped the ball from his hands. He was able to come up with the ball in the scrum.
But the Gladiators held and drew first blood with a six-play, 35-yard drive after taking advantage of a bad Draft snap on a punt attempt.
Sandridge redeemed himself on the drive, scoring from the eight. Dustin Skillman’s boot made it 7-0 in favor of the Gladiators.
But the Cougars answered immediately with a 59-yard drive of their own. Darius Woodson’s 17-yard run down the sideline pushed the ball into Riverheads territory and Ryan Moore’s 25-yard bootleg on fourth-and-one was a game-changing play. Jeff Wilson nailed the first of five extra points to knot the game.
Hicklin recovered his second fumble when Demetrius Younger coughed up the ball after a five-yard run near midfield.
With the momentum changing, Hines broke down the right sideline, made a nifty cut at the 15, and sprinted into the end zone as time expired in the first quarter. Wilson’s kick made it 14-7, Cougars.
Neither team managed a score in the second period. Hicklin made the big play when the Gladiators threatened from the Cougar 12-yard line. Gladiator quarterback Cameron Brown threw down the sidelines toward Lyndon Humphries, but a leaping Hicklin knocked the ball away. Riverheads lost the ball on downs.
“Mike played on special teams last year,” Cougar coach Rod Bowers said. “He didn’t get many snaps. But he worked hard in the weight room over the summer, and he listened to what he was being taught. He’s a smart kid, a great kid and he did a great job.”
But Bowers praised his defense as a whole.
“We bent but we didn’t break,” he said. “Coaches [Tom] Goforth, [Nathan] Floyd and [Abe] Mikell put together a great [defensive] game plan and we played great defense collectively.”
The Cougars’ offense wasn’t bad either as it scored on the first two possessions after the half.
Hines was the magician on the first score with his 50-yard jaunt and Shifflett made it a 28-7 game with a two-yard plunge at the 6:07 mark of the third quarter.
Shifflett added a 42-yard scoring burst midway through the final stanza to put the game away.
“Coach is always making analogies,” Hicklin said. “He said we were like a volcano and last week we were ready to erupt. I think we did that tonight. We built a stone wall on the defensive side and when we needed someone to step up [for the stop], someone stepped up.”
The Cougars had 355 yards of offense, including 320 on the ground. They held the Gladiators to 239 yards of offense, including just 77 in the second half.
“I’m really proud of these kids,” Bowers said. “There’s not a lot of kids who took a lot of snaps offensively last year. I’m happy that we’ve got some kids to step up. There were some big holes for us to run through tonight. All the credit goes to them.”
Riverheads was led by Sandridge who carried 22 times for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Stuarts Draft (2-1) will host Waynesboro Friday night in a battle for the “Ball,” while Riverheads will host Nelson County.