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TAYLOR RIDGE – In a blink of an eye, the 2024 football regular season’s Week 9 stared the Hall-Putnam County football team in the face mask.
Entering the Three Rivers Conference crossover matchup against Class 2A No. 10-ranked Rockridge on Friday without enough wins to qualify for the playoffs, the Red Devils knew the 1-hour, 25-minute road trip was the curtain call.
The Red Devils finished at 2-7 with a 48-10 loss to the Rockets (7-2).
“We knew Rockridge was going to be a big challenge because they’re a really good football team,” first-year Hall-PC coach Logan Larson said. “They have a lot of great athletes and a quarterback (sophomore Cullen Schwigen) who can really sling it. We talked about competing and giving our best effort.
“The last game is special because it’s going to be the last time the 2024 team is going to be all together and on the field. You just owe it to each other, especially the seniors, to play with your best effort. I can’t knock our kids’ effort one bit. They’re just a better football team than we are but I thought we did some good things.”
The Rockets scored the first 27 points for a 27-0 halftime lead.
On its first possession of the second half, Hall-PC erased the goose egg on the scoreboard after a 10-play drive finished with a 22-yard field goal from senior Ilan Bardot to cut the deficit to 27-3 with 6:13 left in the third.
Trailing 41-3 in the fourth quarter, junior Braden Curran returned a kickoff 70 yards for the Red Devils’ only touchdown with 10:15 left.
QB Dylan Glynn was 2 of 10 for 43 yards. Curran caught a 40-yard pass and junior Chase Burkart caught a 3-yard toss.
Junior Aiden Redcliff finished with 24 carries for 56 yards.
“Going back and doing some self scouting, in one of our pass plays designed to find Braden Curran, we’re averaging 16 yards per play on completion,” Larson said. “That was me needing to be better about the game plan and calling the play. It gets a little scary once you’ve been in some bad situations and possibly turning the ball over. Some of the wing-T coaches say there are three things that happen on a pass play and two of them are bad. We try to negate those possible negative outcomes on a pass play. Our offensive line protected Dylan and he trusted them more as the season went on.
“There are times he is running for his life because we’re not blocking. Then there are times he is naturally running because of pressure. I thought we had a really good matchup. Braden is a great athlete. Dylan can throw the ball really well.”
Defensively, junior Gabe Wamhoff intercepted Schwigen and the Red Devils collected a Rockets’ fumble.
Larson said he was pleased with the season and knows it will only get better from here for the Red Devils.
“I set our standards really, really high. I think we’re cutting our kids short if we’re not setting our goals at the highest level. We want to be state champions,” Larson said. “The championships Hall has won in the past are on the scoreboard and we see it every day. There are kids on the team who’s parents played on those championship teams.
“That’s still in the community. There hasn’t been the top accomplishment recently, but we have a group of guys who really want that. They’re bought in. I knew this year was going to be tough because we installed a new offense and defense, and a physical stand point with where we were at in our speed and strength. But I know we have the potential moving forward. They stayed positive all year.
“We were a 2-6 team and the players showed up every day to go to the weight room at 6 a.m. all week. That says a lot about the kids and where they’re at. It’s good to see they’re so bought in and believe in what we’re trying to do.”