The Hobbton Wildcats came up short Friday night against league-leading Princeton; the final was 63-20. The Wildcats gave Princeton’s running game all they could handle, though they were unable to stop them.
Princeton got on the scoreboard right out of the gate, scoring on a four-yard touchdown run with 9:01 left in the first quarter, capping a 60-yard drive to start the game. The 2-point conversion failed when the Hobbton defense stopped the run game and the scored sat at 6-0.
The Wildcats turned the ball around with Daniel Britt taking the kickoff 29 yards to the Wildcats 47-yard line. That drive died and Hobbton was forced to punt the ball away. Princeton took over on their 44-yard line and went on to score with 5:41 left in the quarter on a 20-yard touchdown scamper to go up 13-0 with the added PAT kick.
With 12 ticks left on the clock in the first quarter, the Bulldogs struck again on a 2-yard run. With the PAT, Princeton made it 20-0.
The Wildcats took possession but were forced to punt eight seconds into the second quarter and Princeton took over at their 33-yard line. On this drive, it looked like the Wildcats had the Bulldogs stopped at midfield but Princeton connected on a a rare pass play that went 49 yards for the score to go up 28-0 after a 2-point try by the Bulldogs.
Hobbton’s offense took over and collected some points on an 11-yard run by Grayson Rogers with 6:34 left in the first half. The 2-point conversion failed on a run, leaving the score at 28-6.
Princeton jumped right back on the Wildcats, scoring on a 60-yard drive to go 35-6 with 2:40 left in the half.
Hobbton then turned the ball around but lost an interception deep in the red zone on a fourth down conversion attempt and the half ended at 35-6 in favor of Princeton.
Out of the break, Hobbton had first dibs and made good on the possession with a 16-yard pass play from Rogers to Britt. The Wildcats also made good on the two-point conversion to make the score 35-14.
Hobbton looked to get back into the game when their defense stopped the Bulldogs on their next possession at midfield. However, the Wildcats were unable to get much needed yardage and gave up the ball on an incomplete fourth down pass at the 11-yard line.
Princeton’s next score came on a one-play drive netting an 89-yard touchdown run. The PAT gave the Bulldogs a 42-14 lead with 4:53 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats put together another score on a Rogers-Britt connection for a 67-yard touchdown. The PAT failed leaving the score at 42-20.
Princeton quickly answered with a 2-yard run capping a 67-yard drive and the score was 49-20 with 1:40 left in the third quarter.
Princeton scored twice more in the fourth quarter for the 63-20 final.
“They have a very good team,” commented Hobbton coach Joe Salas. “They are a challenge but our kids are getting better every week. We are looking forward to Lakewood next week.”
With the loss, Hobbton dropped to 4-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Carolina 1A Conference. They look to put an end to their losing streak on Friday when they host Lakewood in the Nissan of Clinton Game of the Week.
