Hines leads Draft to SVD win

STUARTS DRAFT – After two weeks of watching his team struggle, Stuarts Draft coach Rod Bowers brought it back to the basics on Friday and let running back D.J. Hines lead the Cougars to a 28-7 victory over Fort Defiance.

“We have been really struggling to find our heart in these past two weeks,” said Bowers. “So we scrapped a bunch of plays and set up an eight-man formation.”

The Cougars went scoreless in the first quarter and, after an attempted field goal was blocked early on in the second by the Indians, the Cougars came back to score their first touchdown off of four plays thanks to an eight-yard run from Hines. A two-point conversion from Ryan Fitzgerald put Draft up 8-0 with 5:40 on the clock.

Draft was able to sneak in one more touchdown with ten seconds left on the clock, again off of four plays and a 12-yard drive into the end zone from Hines, putting the Cougars ahead 14-0.

“It’s an 11-man game. I run for my teammates,” Hines said. “I can’t do anything without my line.”

Again the Cougars came out of the third quarter scoreless, but redeemed themselves with a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Darius Woodson to Tyler Brydge off the first play of the final quarter.

The Indians tried unsuccessfully to complete a touchdown pass, but an interception from the Cougars’ Tyler Knicely ruined the effort. Starting from their own 25-yard line, the Cougars worked their way down the field with Hines carrying most of the weight. At the Indians’ 29-yard line, Hines was able to break free of the tribe and make a run for it, stopping in the end zone and putting the score at 28-0 with over five minutes left on the clock.

“It’s my job,” Hines said of his three touchdowns and 187 rushing yards. “Settling for less than my best is unacceptable.”

The Indians were able to force in a touchdown of their own thanks to a 60-yard kick return from Chris Huffman and a quick one-yard run from Dakota Canipe for the TD.

“I was proud of how the guys rebounded this week,” Bowers said of his team. “We’ll go back to some of the regular plays now. We just became too dependent on coaching and were not self-efficient.”