The Hobbton Middle School Wildcats hosted the Spartans of Union Middle School Wednesday afternoon. In a dramatic come back, trailing 16-6 at halftime, the Wildcats rallied while holding the Spartans scoreless in the second half and won a hard-fought 22-16 game.
The Wildcats had first chance and turned that in to a score 1:47 into the game. Josiah McLauren got around the right side and outran the defense for a 67-yard touchdown scamper. The two-point conversion failed on a run.
Hobbton’s lead was short lived as Union came back, using the ground game up the middle to go up 8-6 with 1:21 left in the first quarter. That score came on an 11-yard pass play.
The next Union score came after a 65-yard drive on a 3-yard run by Ja’Sean Melvin-Johnson with 24.8 seconds left in the half. The 2-point conversion was scored on a pass from Jaden McCallop to Dylan Hernandez to give the Spartans a 16-6 lead at the break.
Union had first chance after the break, however they lost an on-side kick with the Wildcats getting the ball at their own 42-yard line. With 5:24 left in the third quarter, Colby Weeks scored on a 6-yard run capping a 58-yard drive. Weeks then hit Brody King on the 2-point attempt for a 16-14 game.
Late in the third quarter, the Spartans were threatening again when they laid the ball on the ground to be recovered by Cole Weeks on the Hobbton 10-yard line. With 5:46 left in the game, Weeks connected with Carsen Snell on a 2-yard pass for the score. Chase Pate scored the 2-point conversion on a run to make it a 22-16 game in favot of the Wildcats.
The Spartans turned the ball around and were threatening again when Ethan Suggs knocked the ball loose and grabbed it at the Hobbton 10-yard line with just over two minutes left. After a couple of good runs by Weeks and McLauren, the Wildcats were able to kill the clock close to midfield to end the game.
“I’m so proud of our players,” commented Hobbton coach Jackson Temple. “We had one of our better players go down early with an injury but we had other players come in and step up and got the job done. We came back in the second half and made some adjustments. The effort is always there with these kids. We call them the ‘comeback’ kids and they did it again today. They just keep believing; we never stop believing that we can get the job done. We came out and held Union scoreless in the second half and scored two touchdowns to win. I could not be prouder of our eighth graders and I’m looking forward to watching them play next year at the high school. I’m so proud of this team and the support of the community and the high school.”
Although no stats were kept for either team, for the Wildcats, Weeks, McLauren and Pate all had outstanding offensive games. For Union, Melvin-Johnson and McCallop had solid offensive games.
In the last games of the season next week, Union will host Sampson on Tuesday and Hobbton will be at Roseboro-Salemburg on Wednesday.