OREM – Hurricane football fans know the drill. The Tigers are at their best when they grind it out with their fullback, keep possession of the ball for long periods of time and leave the other teams’ offenses cooling their heels on the sideline.
And right on cue, the formula worked to perfection Friday night as fullback Jaron Cordova rushed for 143 yards and Hurricane held the ball for nearly 30 of the game’s 48 minutes in a 30-6 victory over Mountain View on the Bruins own field.
All 30 points for the Tigers came in the first half, but the ball-control was alive and well in the second half. On one drive, which spanned nearly eight minutes of clock time and 59 yards, Hurricane ran 13 straight running plays.
It was in stark contrast to Mt. View, which attempted 39 passes in the game, with 20 runs. The Tigers had 53 rushing plays and attempted just three passes.
Cordova, the muscular senior fullback, had 17 of those runs and averaged more than eight yards per carry.
But it was a pass play that set up the first touchdown of the night. On the opening possession, Hurricane used Cordova and tailbacks Treyson Abbott and Tyler Moore to move the ball to the MVHS 49-yard line.
Using a play-action pass, Tiger quarterback Adam Heyrend found a wide open Moore downfield for a 36-yard gain to set up a first down at the Mountain View 13-yard line. On the next play, Moore swept around the edge and romped into the end zone for a quick 8-0 lead (Abbott ran in the two-point conversion).
After a three-and-out by the Bruins, Hurricane pushed the lead to 16-0 on a quick drive and 2-yard TD dive by Abbott. He ran in his second two-pointer of the game for the 16-point lead.
After an exchange of punts and the close of the first quarter, Hurricane went driving again. Heyrend attempted – and completed – his second pass of the night on another play-action pass to close out the first quarter. Once again, he found his running back Moore for a long gainer. The 35-yard hook-up set the Tigers up with a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line.
Two plays later, Moore rushed in his second TD of the game to make it 22-0 (the PAT was no good).
A good punt return (21 yards) by Jorge Sanchez set Hurricane up for its fourth TD drive of the first half, this one coming late in the second quarter. Starting at the Mt. View 27, Heyrend led a quick drive that included a 21-yard scramble by the speedy QB. Heyrend ended the drive with 27 seconds left in the half by rambling 5 yards for a TD, with a two-pointer by Cordova making it a 30-0 bulge for HHS.
The Bruins finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter, with QB Duce Anderson scrambling 11 yards for the score to cut it to a 30-6 game. But the PAT was no good and Mt. View never threatened again.
Hurricane had 356 yards of total offense, with the trio of Abbott, Moore and Heyrend combining to rush for 118 yards and four scores to go with Cordova’s big day. Moore also had 71 receiving yards.
Anderson passed for 181 yards for Mt. View, which has lost 11 straight games dating back to 2015. The Bruins were just 1 for 13 on third and fourth downs.
Hurricane, 1-0, will play its first home game next Friday, with Christian High School out of California visiting Tiger Stadium.
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