Turnovers and penalties haunt the Hawks

Hanahan football coach Charlie Patterson and his squad returned to the basics of football, which include fundamentals following Friday night’s 28-16 loss to the Andrews Yellow Jackets.

For the first 24 minutes of the clash, Hanahan looked fine as the Hawks grabbed a 13-0 lead thanks to a touchdown run by Quincy Mitchell and a touchdown pass from Jake Ward to Javante Grant.

But the Hawks had miscue after miscue in the second half as they fell to 1-1 on the season. Andrews, which has had stellar play from its defense, upped its record to 2-0.

The final minutes of the second quarter should have been an omen for the Hawks. The Hawks had a touchdown called back on a penalty and then turned the ball over at the Yellow Jackets’ 5-yard line.

It was more of the same in the second half as the Hawks struggled on offense against a team that has allowed only 22 points in two games.

The Hawks’ defense was guilty of an offsides penalty call and then was called for a face mask penalty. An Andrews’ receiver scored on a pass when the Hawks blew an assignment in the secondary.

It was pretty much more of the same on the Hawks’ ensuing possession. On the second play, the Hawks fumbled to set up the Yellow Jackets’ touchdown.

“In two minutes, we went from a 13-0 lead to trail 14-13,” Patterson said. “After that, we lost any momentum we had.”

The Hawks face another tough challenge this weekend when they play Wando, a Class AAAAA team that has suffered from tough luck in its first two games. The Warriors dropped a 14-10 decision to Beaufort in the season-opener and lost a 17-7 decision to Conway last weekend.

“Wando is very solid in what they do,” Patterson said. “They scheme very well on offense and defense, and are well-coached. Against Andrews, it was more of what we did that cost us the game. We have to eliminate mistakes. We have to eliminate the penalties and turnovers.”