Hurd, Rebels power past Eagles
Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 3, 2004
By the time the second half rolled around everybody in the stadium knew who was going to get the ball.
And still, Goshen couldn't stop him.
Zion Chapel's Charlie Hurd rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns as the Rebels picked up their first win of the season with a 33-14 Class 1A, Region 2 victory over the Eagles.
It was football without frills. Zion Chapel's playbook basically consisted of quarterback Abe Childs on a keeper sweep or a hand-off up the middle to Hurd.
Most of the time it was to the fullback Hurd, whose short stature kept him hidden long enough behind his offensive line to confound the Eagles' defense.
"We've been working all week on stopping the fullback," said Eagles' head coach Tim Brown. "But we just couldn't stop him tonight. We had to stop No. 1 (Hurd) and we didn't do it."
Zion Chapel led Goshen 21-13 at the break on the strength of two touchdown passes by Childs to running back Brandon Taylor. Hurd added a score and had 80 yards on the ground in the first half.
It was clear, at that point, that this wasn't the same Rebels' team that Goshen had handled in a preseason scrimmage.
"They've gotten better and better as the season has gone on," said Brown. "They're a scrappy football team."
That scrappiness was epitomized by Hurd. He slashed, spun and, on occasion, bulled his way for yardage against the Eagles. After a scoreless third quarter, the senior topped the game off with consecutive touchdowns in the final period of play, both from one-yard out.
The game started in the Eagles' favor. Midway through the first quarter, Goshen's Lacorey Teague hit the Rebels hard with a 33-yard touchdown run right up the gut of the defense. Zion Chapel answered with a 45-yard pass on a fake punt to set up Hurd's first touchdown of the night from the Eagles' one-yard line. Goshen responded with 59-yard touchdown run by Derrick Foster on the ensuring kickoff.
At that point, little did Brown know he had seen the only offense his team would muster for the game.
"After the first quarter, we had a couple of plays called back and we let that kill our momentum," he said.
From there, the Rebels fed Goshen a steady diet of Hurd and quickly worked the ball down the field. On fourth and goal from the six-yard line, Childs stood up under center and hit Taylor for the go-ahead score. The PAT gave Zion Chapel the lead for good.
The Rebels would take a 21-13 lead later in the second after recovering a Goshen fumble at its 30-yard line. Childs rolled out inside the 10-yard line and threw his second touchdown pass of the game, once again to Taylor, with 6.1 seconds in the half.
Goshen looked to muster some offense in the third, but was stopped on fourth and two at the Rebels' 30. The Eagles' defense in turn stopped Zion Chapel on a fourth and one at the Eagles' 25.
After a scoreless third quarter, Hurd put the game out of reach at the 7:05 mark in the fourth with a one-yard touchdown run.
Hurd scored again on another one-yard plunge after Childs picked off Goshen quarterback Judson Ricks at the Eagles' 45-yard line.
Goshen (2-3, 1-2) hosts Ariton next week. The Rebels (1-4, 1-2) play at Pleasant Home.