CHARLOTTESVILLE — After a convincing win over state-ranked North Decatur in Eastern Hancock’s initial Mid-Eastern Conference game of the season Friday, head coach Pat Echeverria, in his post game talk with his team, went from captain to captain to see if they had anything to say.
Blame it on, probably, the highest temperatures and heat index numbers they would ever play in, the comments were short and hardly audible to those surrounding the postgame chat.
At least until Echeverria asked senior lineman Logan Hoskins if he had anything to say.
“Pound the rock!” Hoskins exclaimed, getting a large reaction of yells from his tired teammates and the surrounding fans.
That’s what the Royals did in a 36-14 victory over Class 1A No. 4 North Decatur at Eastern Hancock High School Friday.
Sophomore Mark Kube rushed for four touchdowns and the combination of Kube and junior back James King wore out the Chargers defense.
“I think our kids handled the elements this week and listened to the nutrition and the hydration, which was unbelievably important, and we had a lot of community support with that,” Echeverria said. “I felt like the conditions didn’t bother us and we were able to wear them down in the second half.
“Mark and King were great. I think they feed off each other. When one makes a big play I think the other wants to match that. They’re both tremendous and our offensive line was telling me at halftime, ‘Coach, we need to pound the rock.’”
Kube scored four touchdowns on runs of 30, 29, 18 and 16 yards. The last three were the only points for either team in the second half.
Unofficially, Kube finished with 21 carries fro 163 yards. King had seven carries for 83, including a 57-yard run to set up Kube’s 18-yarder to give the team a 29-14 second-half lead.
Prior to the long run, North Decatur was on the verge of possibly tying the game.
With the Royals up 22-14 early in the fourth quarter, Eastern defensive back Dylan Bowman intercepted a Mason Morris pass near the end zone. The Chargers had started the drive at the end of the third quarter and had first-and-goal from the Royals 10.
A rush for a loss, an incomplete pass and a holding penalty led to a third-and-goal from the 22. That’s when Bowman, who led the county with seven interceptions last season, picked off the pass.
It was the second straight week Eastern Hancock was tied at halftime and held its opponent scoreless in the second half.
At Frankton last week, the teams were tied 15-15 at the break. The Royals outscored the Eagles 21-0 in the final two quarter.
Against North Decatur, the Royals got out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead on quarterback Elijah Edon’s 18-yard run on fourth-down. Kube scored later, breaking numerous tackles on his way to a 30-yard score.
North Decatur tied it with a pair of second-quarter touchdown runs.
“We had a chance early on to put them away and we let them get back into it,” Echeverria said. “In the second half we responded like I hoped we would.”
In the second half, the Royals wore down the Chargers.
After Kube’s score put the Royals up 29-14, they executed a perfect onside kick. The next drive was more King and Kube and the sophomore scored the last points of the game with 6:20 to go.
North Decatur had just four second-half first downs, all came on the series that ended in the Bowman pick.
“They’re flying around. Their effort is great they’re working together and getting excited,” Echeverria added on his defense. “It’s a lot of fun when your defense is playing like that.”
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Eastern Hancock 36, North Decatur 14
North Decatur (1-1);0;14;0;0;-;14
Eastern Hancock (2-0);14;0;8;14;-;36
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
EH – Elijah Edon 18 run (PAT blocked) 7:56
EH – Mark Kube 30 run (Dylan Bowman run) :27
2nd Quarter
ND – Kaden Muckerheide 1 run (Aiden O’Dell kick) 8:38
ND – Cooper Parmer 9 run (O’Dell kick) 4:15
3rd Quarter
EH –Kube 29 run (Bowman run) 8:30
4th Quarter
EH –Kube 18 run (Aaron Redmon kick) 9:06
EH –Kube 16 run (Redmon kick) 6:20
