High- scoring offense looks to carry Hallandale
Even before the Hallandale Chargers arrived at Piper for their preseason contest last Thursday, junior running back Taj McGowan knew something special was on the horizon.
“Before the game, our team was so hyped,” McGowan said.
“Everybody seemed like theywere ready so Iwas like, ‘ Oh yeah, this is going to be a goodgame.’ And then the first play, the O- line just opened up the holes to the heavens and I was like yeah this is going to be a good game.”
His premonition was correct.
McGowan rushed for 130 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 70- 20 victory over the Bengals. The other running backs put up big numbers as well: Treyvon Rolle ran10 times for 132 yards and Paul Anderson found the end zone twice while rushing for 98 yards.
Add this to sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley’s 7- of- 11 completions for 120 yards and a score and this means the Chargers offense could be tough to stop.
While the trio of running backs was the main factor in the game and this was only preseason, Chargers coach Dameon Jones has another reason as to why his team was so successful.
“If you have a whole bunch of talent or if you don’t have any talent, without a good foundation of coaches, none of that [ matters],” Jones said.
“I give all the credit to my coaches and just paying attention to detail and executing.”
The Chargers open the regular season Friday at McArthur looking to improve on 2012’ s 6- 4 campaign.
There is reason for optimism as last year’s JV squad went undefeated and plenty of players from that squad are now battling for positions this year on varsity.
Along with a young, highoctane offense, Hallandale also boasts a member of the Sun Sentinel Super 11 in senior cornerback John Battle.
“He’s a great kid first of all. He brings that leadership [ to the field] because he’s been with me for four years,” Jones said.
“I’m just proud of the young man from where he’s came from and where he is now. Our kids are following behind him.”
Battle, a recent LSU commit, is honored to be named one of the best players in the county and seems to be ready for the next test that lies ahead.
“We’ve been working hard, upin the morning practices, day practices just grinding in the hot sun,” Battle said. “So we are just ready to get that first win in the record book officially.”