The refrain is the same for White River High football coach Joe Sprouse – his young players will make youthful mistakes – but he sees light at the end of the tunnel: as experience is gained, mistakes will diminish.
The Hornets made too many miscues again Friday night, helping the visiting Washington Patriots roll to a convincing 46-22 victory.
“We’re doing some things very well,” Sprouse said, “but there are times where we have lapses.”
It might be easy to assume those lapses are all on the defensive side of the ball, since the Hornets are allowing 36 points per game. But Sprouse points out some crucial turnovers by the offense have put the defense in tough situations.
That was evident Friday, when the Hornets handed over the ball on four occasions.
The Hornets’ first touchdown Friday came on a 13-yard scamper by Anthony Dove. An extra-point kick by Tyler Worthen sliced into the Patriots’ early 16-0 advantage.
After the visitors built their lead to 30-14, White River responded with another Dove touchdown, this one on a 36-yard pass play from Zach McMillen, a play that saw Dove shake one would-be tackler and dodge another.
Washington went up 38-14 in the fourth quarter, but White River had one more explosion in store. Taking the ball on their own 40, an inside screen to Cody Havelock picked up 36 yards; then, from the 24, McMillen found Havelock wide open for a TD. A two-point completion from McMillen to Dove capped the Hornet scoring.
The Hornets netted just 25 yards on 16 rushing attempts and picked up 182 yards through the air for a total of 207. Washington had 208 passing yards and added 119 on the ground for a total of 327.
