The Anderson County Mavericks' air-raid offense proved too much for the Howard Hustlin' Tigers at Reggie White Field on Friday night. Their passing game led the fourth-ranked team in Class 4A to a 42-0 Region 2 victory.
Anderson County's four-wide spread offense began to give Howard trouble in the second quarter. After Mavericks quarterback Stone Hatmaker hit receiver Austin Elliot on a 55-yard strike on the first play of a drive, receiver Cam Thomas found a hole in the Hustlin' Tigers' zone defense on the next play to score a 27-yard touchdown.
Anderson County (4-1, 2-0) kept its offensive momentum rolling during its next possession. After a quick turnover on downs by Howard (3-2, 0-1) Hatmaker scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Elliot off a button-hook route to bring the score to 14-0.
Hatmaker earned his third touchdown of the night by finding receiver Brysen Vowell for a 3-yard score in the flat of the right corner of the end zone. The Mavericks quarterback finished the game with four passing touchdowns on 324 yards to three receivers.
"It can sometimes be hard as a coach to decide on a package and which personnel we use," Anderson County coach Davey Gillum said. "I feel like we can have five skill positions on the field at any time who can make plays with their hands, and it is going to be difficult for any team in our class to match five defensive backs with them."
The Hustlin' Tigers were effective running the ball, but penalties kept them in third-and-long situations.
"We're methodical, we want to run the football, and Anderson County took us out of our game early," coach John Starr said. "Our goals are still intact, though, and we can still get to where we want to be."
"It took us a couple of series to adjust to their speed, how they were able to bounce runs outside," Gillum said. "Early on we looked like we were stuck in mud, but our defense played well after we adjusted to their quickness."
Contact Justin Dempsey at sports@timesfreepress.com.