The Haliburton Highlands Secondary School (HHSS) senior football team is staying positive after a pair of 31-0 losses Oct. 11 and 16.
The Red Hawks could not muster any offence against the top-seeded Thomas A. Stewart Griffins Oct. 16 and the second-place Holy Cross Hurricanes Oct. 11. The losses dropped HHSS to 0-5 and well out of the playoff picture.
But coach Tim Davies kept positive after the losses. In an interview after the Holy Cross game, he said his team competed well. They held the team to only seven points in the first half.
“We had a few injuries in the second and probably ran out of a little bit of gas,” Davies said. “Although there are 12 guys on the field, it’s still man-on-man. As soon as you start replacing guys that aren’t playing their normal positions, then it becomes difficult, but the kids played well.”
The Griffins controlled the game throughout, up 17-0 at the half and then adding two touchdowns in the third quarter.
But the Red Hawks kept the game closer against the Hurricanes. Though the Red Hawks did not make much headway offensively, their defense held, keeping Holy Cross to one touchdown in the first half.
“We did very good,” linebacker and fullback Desi Davies said. “We did more than we expected to do in the first half.”
But Holy Cross struck quickly in the third. After scoring a touchdown, they picked up a Red Hawks pass and made another successful scoring drive to make it 21-0.
Holy Cross stymied the Red Hawks’ next offensive drive. After the Red Hawks punted, the Hurricanes came back with another touchdown. They later finished the game’s scoring with a field goal.
“It was a little bit frustrating but we just know we have to regroup and try and rally back together as a team,” Desi Davies said.
The team’s next game is on the road against Adam Scott Collegiate and Vocational Institute Oct. 22, before the season wraps up against St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School at home Nov. 1.
The Red Hawks senior football team is the only single-A school in the Kawarthas. Although coach Davies said they are probably not playoff-bound, he thinks the team can be more competitive in their final games.
“We’re a young team,” he said. “We’re on the outside looking in. We’re still going to come out and have some fun.”
“It’s been fun,” Desi Davies said about the season so far. “I’m just proud of the guys, every single person on this team that has stuck in there.”
