Hawks celebrate first victory of season while Bishops fall to James Island
Hanahan High School coach David Morbitzer certainly knows success. After all, he’s led the school’s girls’ and boys’ track and field teams to state championships. But as a football coach, he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he gained his first victory as a head coach.
Morbitzer, in his first year at the helm of the football program, watched his team fall to Myrtle Beach 37-0 last week in his debut. But the Hawks rebounded to gain a 37-12 victory over Woodland Friday night at Wiley Knight Stadium.
“It was really special, one that I will never forget for sure,” said Morbitzer, who has been a coach in one form or another at Hanahan for the last decade. “Last week was tough and coach (Mickey) Wilson has Myrtle Beach on a roll. So it was good to see our players respond this week in a positive way.”
While Hanahan and Philip Simmons posted victories in Week 2 of the high school football season, Bishop England fell to 0-2, dropping a 28-6 decision to James Island. The Bishops will seek their first win of the season against Philip Simmons this week, while Hanahan plays Bluffton.
Everything went right for the Hawks, who played before a large crowd at home. Morbitzer was impressed by the support the student section provided.
“It was the best turnout I’ve seen as far as student support since I’ve been here, and I’ve been here for 10 years,” he said.
Woodland always has some great athletes and the Wolverines aren’t short on talent this year. But the Hawks capitalized on five Wolverine turnovers, including four fumbles to record the victory.
The Hawks tallied 287 yards in total offense with a majority of the yardage coming on the ground. Gale Ball carried 19 times for 78 yards while Shiron Hart tallied 13 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Mills made the most of his four rushing attempts, scoring three touchdowns and finishing with 20 yards.
Jake Ward threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kristjan Mustipher while Mac Blakeney completed 6 of 15 passes for 60 yards.
JAMES ISLAND 28, BE 12
Bishop England is still seeking to establish a running game, and that was one of the big issues in the loss at James Island.
The Bishops ran the football 23 times but netted only 31 yards against the Trojans.
Bishop England quarterback Cam Costa has a big effort as he completed 19 of 37 for 255 yards and a touchdown.
Sullivan Clare had four receptions for 107 yards, including one catch that went for 62 yards. Chase Daniel had four catches for 45 yards.
Ed Marinaro led the BE runners with nine carries for 40 yards.
James Island led 7-6 at halftime, but added a score in the third quarter to push the lead to 14-7. DQ Vinson completed 11 of 20 passing for 96 yards to aid the Trojans. Erik Rogers carried 25 times for 104 yards.