Heading into Friday’s game with undefeated Hagerty, Harmony coach Don Simon felt that his team would have to play a ball control offense in order to keep the game close against the Huskies.
Instead, Hagerty (5-0) controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and sent Harmony (3-2) to its second loss of the season by a 24-3 score.
“Not much to say about that one,” Simon said. “We knew they were really good on the offensive line and we knew their quarterback was outstanding. But in truth we actually did a pretty good job on defense, the problem was we could get absolutely nothing going on offense. They just dominated up front.”
Despite its offense fumbling the ball away on its second possession, Harmony’s defense stopped Hagerty twice in the red zone and trailed just 6-0 midway through the second quarter. Harmony would rally to get back in the game when Alex Tuyo connected on a 35-yard field goal to cut the lead in half at the 4:38 mark of the second period. Two plays later, Harmony would force a fumble, recover on the Huskies 13 and have a chance to take the lead. But three plays netted just one yard and Tuyo’s field goal attempt from 30 was no good.
Taking over on the 12 with just 2:38 in the half, Hagerty would score 10 points to take a 16-3 lead in the locker room. A 23-yard pass and a pass interference penalty gave the Huskies the ball on the 50 and on the next play quarterback Anthony Benjiza would buy enough time to lob a 50-yard touchdown pass to Ian Miller. Trailing 13-3, Harmony would go three and out and punt to Hagerty with 1:03 remaining. Benjiza would hit on passes of 23, 13 and 21 yards and with four seconds left Edwin Eberhardt hit his third field goal of the game from 22 yards out to make it a 16-3 lead at the half.
Taking the second half kickoff, Hagerty would put the game away as Benjiza led a 9-play, 80-yard drive that took almost six minutes off the clock and was capped by a 5-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Williams. The Huskies then converted a two-point conversion for the final margin of victory.
It was another night of offensive futility for Harmony, as the Longhorns went without an offensive touchdown for a third consecutive game. They were limited to just five first downs and 80 yards of total offense in the game.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things,” Simon said about his struggling offense. “We have a young offensive line and that has factored into it, but by the same token we have now faced incredibly talented defenses in back-to-back-to-back games.”
With the Longhorn win, Hagerty has now allowed just three touchdowns in five games and is giving up just four points a game. Harmony’s two previous opponents Eau Gallie and Palm Bay are allowing just 10 points a game each. Those last three Longhorn opponents are a combined 13-2 on the season.
Harmony will have a busy week coming up. They will play Viera (0-6) next Friday, will play a makeup district game with Melbourne on Tuesday (10/18) before taking on Tohopekaliga the following Friday. “We don’t have too much time to feel sorry for ourselves, as we will be playing three games in eight days,” Simon added.
