Game of the Week: Two Takeaways from Lake Fenton's victory over Hillsdale football
HILLSDALE — It took just a few plays, and mistakes, for the Lake Fenton Blue Devil offense to march their way down to a 21-0 halftime lead over the Hillsdale Hornets.
Lake Fenton had to resort to a backup quarterback in Camden Fray on Thursday night after a meniscus injury to starter Carsen Lewis.
More: Week 2 Scoreboard for Hillsdale County High School Football
Fray had no trouble picking things up right where the Blue Devils left off last week, taking down the Hornets in a 35-0 final.
These are our instant takeaways from the Week 2 Game of the Week. Game stats and coach's notes will be found in our second breakdown story of Thursday night's action.
Mistakes put Hillsdale in a hole to start the night
After the strong start last week, the Hillsdale varsity football team gave backup quarterback Camden Fray and the Blue Devils good starting field position for their second touchdown of the night. A fumble from Jack Bowles gave Fray and company 1st and 10 from Hornet territory.
The Blue Devils capitalized only a couple plays later to score their second touchdown of the night. At the end of the first half, the Hornets had their heels to their red zone, facing a fourth down opportunity to stop the Blue Devils from adding to their lead.
Fray found Clay Cook on a fadeaway in the back of the end zone for their third touchdown of the half after a mistake in the Hornet secondary.
Costly mistakes early in the first half of the game put Hillsdale in a hole they could not get out of.
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Hillsdale's offense cannot find second-half rhythm
Offensively, the Hornets had to face many third-and-long situations as the Blue Devil offense closed the running lanes in the middle. The Hornets had to resort to spreading the ball out early on but could not break away.
The methodical drives down the field allowed the Blue Devils to hone-in on third down situations.
Hillsdale could not get into Blue Devil territory in the first half. Subsequently, they were unable to put together a strong drive in the second half, despite getting a fumble takeaway to start the third quarter.
A couple costly penalties killed the first drive for Hillsdale in the third quarter. Running backs Jace Lennox and Stephen Petersen found holes to gain first downs a few series in the second half but could not found a running lane to earn the big plays that helped propel them to a week one victory.
Jack Bowles was under duress for much of the second half. The Hornets' pass attempts could not connect on crucial second and third downs. A deep ball to Grant Good from Bowles fell just out of reach of Good's hands, which could have given the Hornets their biggest drive stretcher of the night.
Lake Fenton forced multiple punts that resulted in blown special teams coverages, allowing for good starting field position on the final touchdown drive of the night.
Lake Fenton capitalized for two more touchdowns in the second half, one on a big rushing play and the other to cap off the final score of the night.
Head coach Marc Lemerand and the Hornets will look to reset before heading into their first LCAA game of the season. Hudson welcomes the Hornets on Sept. 8 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Game of the Week: Two Takeaways from Lake Fenton's victory over Hillsdale football
