Heritage passing game lights up Southeast

It was all offense, all night at Southeast Whitfield High School on Friday.

Heritage (4-5 overall, 3-2 in Region 6-AAAA) ran up 55 points and 536 yards of total offense as the Raiders were unable to slow down the Generals. Southeast Whitfield (3-5, 1-3) had some impressive offense as well, especially in the running game, but the Raider defense struggled against a Heritage offense that was seemingly unstoppable, as quarterback Nick Hanson and wide receiver Nolan Letzgus led the way to a 55-34 victory.

“They really had it going tonight,” Heritage coach E.K. Slaughter said. “Nolan did some really good things, but what you have to remember is Nick was putting the ball where it needed to be. Nolan is just a competitor and it wasn’t just on offense. He had a couple tackles on kickoffs, had that interception, matched up on their best receiver...he’s just a player.”

Hanson finished the game 13-for-16 passing for 303 yards and threw three touchdowns, all to Letzgus. Letzgus finished the game with eight receptions for 202 yards, the three receiving touchdowns and added a 98-yard kickoff return for his fourth score. On several of his scores Letzgus, beat his defender so badly that he was able to slow down as he crossed the goal line.

“It’s not that easy, it’s always a fight,” Letzgus said. “I just tried to have fun out there. You gotta have a little bit of a confidence boost with our team and I feel like doing that sometimes helps us out.”

The game had a scary moment midway through the second quarter when Heritage senior Thomas Owens went down with what looked like a serious leg injury. The ambulance was called to the field immediately and the game was stopped for 30 minutes as both teams huddled and prayed next to the ambulance at midfield.