Heritage Hall defense leaves Broken Bow feeling battered
Heritage Hall’s defensive line left little doubt about its power.
No. 5 Broken Bow’s 6-foot-7 quarterback, Hunter Gray, knows it all too well. he had rarely been hit throughout the season.
The Chargers changed that.
No. 3 Heritage Hall sacked Gray a handful of times and hit him even more as part of an overpowering defensive effort that led to a Class 4A semifinal berth with a 36-9 victory Friday night at Pop Murray Memorial Field.
“I don’t think he liked it,” senior defensive tackle Seth Meacham said.
Heritage Hall (12-0) faces Blanchard, which upset No. 1 Wagoner, next week at a neutral site to be determined. The Chargers have eliminated Blanchard in the first round each of the past three seasons.
It’s the Chargers’ first semifinal appearance in Class 4A after winning state titles in 2014 and 2015 in Class 3A.
To get there, the defense took over.
It held Broken Bow (102) to just 108 total yards and returned two fumbles in the third quarter for touchdowns to pull away.
At that point, defensive coordinator Mark Adams turned to coach Brett Bogert and joked the defense might score more times than the offense.
Ultimately, the offense won out, but because of the defense.
“The defense was just incredible all night,” Bogert said.
Heritage Hall led 17-3 at halftime after scoring three times in the second quarter. Running backs Billy Ross Jr. and Morgan Dinwiddie scored on short runs. Garrett McGinnis made a field goal.
But the Chargers still felt flat and wanted more energy.
“Coaches pumped us up at halftime, told us what to fix, we did that and took them down,” Meacham said.
Seven plays into the third, Gray fumbled. Jaden McDaniel scooped and scored.
To prove the Char- gers were catching some breaks, quarterback Blake Adams’ next pass was deflected, but it still went about 20 yards downfield into the arms of Zane Wade, who completed the 47-yard touchdown.
Then the defense forced another fumble when Quintin Lewis fumbled a snap out of the wishbone formation and Preston Taylor scooped and scored.
“We’re unstoppable like this,” Meacham said. “It’s awesome, just the whole energy and flow of everything.”