Henderson Spoils Pittsburg’s Homecoming, 71-28

PITTSBURG -- The ETSN.fm + Dairy Queen Game of the Week looked like it would be a game after all when Dalton Warrick found a broken Henderson zone and caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jaylon Jimmerson.

That play was an affirmative. If Pittsburg could find the holes in the opposing defense, it could compete against a team with a skyrocketing stock.

It never came that easy again.

Warrick's catch cut the Pirates' deficit to seven points with eight minutes to play in the first half of Friday's game at Pirate Stadium. Then, Henderson scored 36 points before the half ended for a permanent hold on a 71-28 win.

"We were just able to slow them down and ran the ball well," Lions head coach Phil Castles said. "Our kids just played hard. It's always nice when it turns out well. You can play hard, for it to turn out well is not always the case. They played hard tonight and it turned out good."

Pittsburg running back Red Shields entered the contest averaging 178.5 yards through the Pirates' first two games. He went for 37 yards on 14 carries against Henderson's defense and then suffered a hand injury and never returned.

Shields was all of Pittsburg's offense through 16 plays and one touchdown. Two pass attempts fell incomplete.

The rest of the Pirates' stable was less successful, and all eyes turned to Jimmerson and the passing game.

Henderson (3-0), from Class 4A Division I, had no such problems running the ball. Running back Lakendrick VanZandt's first carry on the very first play from scrimmage was a 61-yard touchdown.

VanZandt, a TCU verbal commitment, carried seven times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. With a 57-14 halftime lead, he didn't play a single second half snap.

Quarterback Trae Hall broke off an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter toward seven carries for a net of 89 yards. Like VanZandt, he also was done after a half.

Bottom line, Henderson ran the ball well and dictated the pace of the game. Pittsburg (2-1), which is a Class 4A Division II program, could not run effectively and played by the Lions' rules.

Warrick's big catch made it a 21-14 game in favor of Henderson.

Matthew Childers, as a wildcat back, began the answer back with a 35-yard run on second-and-13 from the Lions' 35-yard line. Hall reached the end zone two plays later and VanZandt ran in a two-point conversion.

A misplay by Pittsburg's punter after a negative 3-yard drive back to its own 11-yard line gave Henderson the ball at the Pirates' 1-yard line. Childers scored the next play.

Pittsburg lost a fumble at its own 36-yard line its next drive. Hall connected with Trestan Ebner -- another TCU commitment -- from 36 yards out for a 42-14 edge with 5:26 to go in the half.

The Pirates punted their next possession away from their own 8-yard line. Hall found Tariq Gray from 40 yards out the very next play.

Pittsburg punted yet again to end its fourth possession in a 6:50 span. Janathon Newman returned that punt 64 yards for another touchdown and the 57-14 lead.

"That was such a big burst of points," Castles said. "That was a weird thing to look up and see that. But I'll take it. If it ever happens again, I'd like to be on this side of it."

Henderson's backup offense dominated time of possession in the third quarter. The score held steady.

Warrick scored twice in the fourth quarter on runs, but Tremayne Lewis and Dequalious Murphy added touchdowns for Henderson to keep the margin of victory at 43 points.

The contest was once as interesting as it was when Warrick found the open zone for a score.

Trailing 6-0 after VanZandt's opening run, a failed two-point conversion attempt and after a punt right back to the Lions, Warrick picked off Hall from his strong safety spot and returned it down to the Lions' 8-yard line.

Shields converted fourth-and-goal with a 1-yard run and Alex Rodriguez nailed the point-after kick for a short-lived, 7-6 lead.

Hall nearly threw a second pick to Warrick just after the ensuing kickoff. Warrick dropped it, and VanZandt made the Pirates pay seven plays later.

Henderson never trailed again and built a 21-7 lead on Hall's 80-yard run up the middle thanks in addition to an Ebner two-point conversion run and a point after kick from Axel Romero.

"We started off with a big play," VanZandt said. "We started out very well and fast. We had some bad breaks, but we overcame them. That's something I'm happy about."

The Pirates move on to visit Paris next Friday.

Henderson simultaneously hosts Pine Tree. Pittsburg defeated Pine Tree in Week 2, 51-26.

"We've just to focus and great ready," Ebner said. "Bottom line."

Henderson 71, Pittsburg 28

Non-District Game

At Pirate Stadium, Pittsburg

Henderson      14    43    0     14    --    71
Pittsburg          7      7     0    14    --    28

First Quarter
HEN--Lakendrick VanZandt 61 run (pass failed), 11:41
PIT--Red Shields 1 run (Alex Rodriguez kick), 9:09
HEN--VanZandt 23 run (Trestan Ebner run), 6:55
Second Quarter
HEN--Trae Hall 80 run (Axel Romero kick), 11:49
PIT--Dalton Warrick 29 pass from Jaylon Jimmerson (Rodriguez kick), 8:37
HEN--Hall 14 run (VanVandt run), 7:40
HEN--Matthew Childers 1 run (run failed), 6:32
HEN--Trestan Ebner 36 pass from Hall (Romero kick), 5:26
HEN--Tariq Gray 40 pass from Hall (Ebner run), 3:07
HEN--Janathon Newman 64 punt return (Romero kick), 1:50
Fourth Quarter
HEN--Tremayne Lewis 1 run (Romero kick), 10:25
PIT--Warrick 1 run (Rodriguez kick), 7:42
HEN--Dequalious Murphy 39 run (Romero kick), 3:55
PIT--Warrick 9 run (Rodriguez kick), 1:31

                                         HEN                  PIT
First Downs                         19                     11
Total Yards                        486                    223
Rushes-Yards                 34-352                36-60
Passing Yards                    134                   163
Comp.-Att.-Int.                  8-12-1            11-19-0
Punts-Avg.                        1-16                7-33.4
Fumbles-Lost                     3-0                   5-1
Penalties-Yards                 5-34                3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Henderson, Lakendrick VanZandt 7-112, Dequalious Murphy 9-90, Trae Hall 7-89, Matthew Childers 2-41, Trevor Henson 2-6, Datavius Hamilton 2-6, Trestan Ebner 1-3, Tremayne Lewis 2-3. Pittsburg, Red Shields 14-37, Dalton Warrick 10-32, Shaquil Burton 1-8, DeJour Dowell 1-6, Juwan Hawkins 4-6, Brett McGee 1-(-10), Jaylon Jimmerson 5-(-19)..
PASSING--Henderson, Hall 7-11-0--106, VanZandt 1-1-0--28. Pittsburg, Jimmerson 11-15-0--158, McGee 0-4-0--0.
RECEIVING--Henderson, Ebner 4-81, Tariq Gray 2-50, Childers 2-3. Pittsburg, Cris Williams 3-56, DeJour Dowell 4-36, Dalton Warrick 1-29, Trajon Sheppard 2-23, Keontae Burns 1-19.