Hastings football rushes past Coldwater to take win on Purple Night
COLDWATER – The Coldwater Cardinals saw their visitors from Hastings control the ground game from the opening whistle and rushed its way to the 52-7 win in Coldwater’s annual Purple Game.
The Purple Game is the culmination of a weeklong fundraising effort by Coldwater Athletics known as Purple Week, with all proceeds going towards cancer research and foundations in and around Branch County.
On the field the Saxons built a 45-0 lead before the Cardinals could find the scoreboard and outrushed Coldwater 480-36.
The scoring started at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter as Haiden Simmet scored on a 16-yard touchdown run, the first of his four in the first half. He had a 48-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Owen Carroll, followed by scoring runs of 23 yards and 79 yards.
Hastings wasted little time finding the scoreboard again in the second half, scoring on the second play from scrimmage as Landon Steward rumbled untouched 54 yards for a touchdown. With the running clock now in effect, the time melted away until Hastings hit paydirt again, scoring on a 44-yard touchdown run by Gerald Miller.
Coldwater was finally able to put together a scoring drive to start the fourth quarter. Zach Coffing's 1-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Austin capped a six-play, 62-yard drive.
Hastings added one more score before the final buzzer as Kyle Echtinaw scored on a 9-yard touchdown run with 2:07 left on the clock, finding the final score of 52-7.
Coffing finished 5 for 9 passing for 88 yards and a score. Freshman Dayton Ennis led the receiving corps, hauling in three catches for 54 yards while Keavyn Zabonick added two catches for 45 yards.
Simmett led Hastings with 14 rushes for 188 yards while also catching one pass for 48 yards. Isaiah Wilson added eight carries for 92 yards and a score.
Tyson Roby and Evan Porter led the Coldwater defense, each recording 10 tackles.
With the win Hastings improves to 2-2 overall, 1-0 in the Interstate 8, while Coldwater falls to 0-4, 0-2. The Cardinals play next Friday at Lincoln Park (0-4).
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Hastings football rushes past Coldwater
