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moved the ball down the field and scored on a 39yard pass play with 9:51 on the clock. They added the two-point conversion to close the lead to 38-36 for Heritage.
The Eagles took over right at the 50-yard line to start their next possession. On the first play Hutcheson went up the middle and after a good run was clearly down before the ball was knocked loose, but it was deemed a fumble by the referees, with Grace recovering it at their 27-yard line.
That play fired up the Eagles as they came up with a stop on defense. Heritage took over at the Cougar's 34-yard line, and with runs by Hutceson and Sikes, the Eagles were at the 6-yard line. Josiah Smith took it to the one before Sikes capped it off with 6:08 on the clock. The two points try was no good, but it was now 4436.
Just a few plays into the Cougars' next drive, John Smith came up with an interception for VHA at the Eagles 15-yard line. Sikes had a good run to the 24yard line, and on the next play Hutcheson caught a pass from Josiah Smith and took it all the way to the 1-yard line before he was brought down just shy of the goal. Smith kept it and went up the middle for the score with four minutes left in the third. That made it 50-36 with Heritage pulling away.
The Eagles' defense again held and the offense took over at the Cougars' 49-yard line. Sikes carried it to the 38-yard line, and then Hutcheson went in from there around the left side with 24 seconds left in the third quarter. That put VHA on top 56-36. The Eagles scored two more times in the fourth quarter of the game, the first on a 60-yard run, and the second on a 1-yard run to cap off a drive. That gave Heritage the win, 70-36 over Grace Christian. The Eagles rushed the ball 46 times on the night for 430 yards and nine touchdowns, and threw for 115 yards and 1 touchdown in their dominate performance. The Eagles finished the regular season with a record of 8-1 and they are 4-0 in Region play. With that the Eagles will be moving on to the State Playoffs which will begin next week.
James Hutcheson follows his blocks and breaks a big run for the Eagles.Photo by Mike Branch
