HAMILTON, Ohio -- Even though Lakota East never trailed in its Greater Miami Conference opener at Hamilton, the Thunderhawks really had to work to get to the finish line.
Lakota East built 21-0 first quarter, which saw its veteran offensive line dominate the line of scrimmage versus the smaller Hamilton defensive line.
It took the Thunderhawks less than 10 minutes to build that lead, and it was all done running the football. It looked as if the Virgil M. Schwarm Stadium crowd would be heading to the exits early.
Hamilton didn’t fold and outscored Lakota East 21-7 in the second quarter. The Big Blue did it with quarterback Steve Cunningham dumping the ball off to star A’Shon Riggins. The duo hooked up eight times for more than 120 yards and two touchdowns before intermission.
A healthy Riggins, who has verbally committed to Indiana, has blossomed over the past two weeks.
“He put the time in during the offseason. There was no AAU basketball. He dedicated himself to football,” head coach Chad Murphy said.
After the break, East came out and continued its success on the ground, scoring the third quarter’s only touchdown. Junior Tyler Glenn broke through the line and darted 61 yards for his fourth TD of the night. That made the score 35-21 with momentum clearly in the Thunderhawks favor.
Glenn was the headliner, finishing with 263 yards. It was just his fifth start in eight varsity games. His personal bests on this evening gave Glenn 1,340 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing for his career.
Quarterback T.J. Jemison added a 42-yard scamper as the Lakota East offensive line continued to make its presence known.
“We have four starters back,” head coach Rick Haynes said about his offensive line, who paved the way for 444 yards on 56 carries. “They are a great group to be around. They are very competitive. They came into the off-season wanting to get better and did.”
Jemison finished with 109 yards and the Thuderhawks only other touchdown. Senior classmate Kaleb Lepper had 72 yards on five totes.
Hamilton looked dead in the water with facing a second and 37 at its own 11-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, but running back Isaiah Murph broke free and went 89-yards on what appeared to get the Big Blue back to a one score deficit.
The side judge said that Murph stepped out on the Lakota East 38. Cunningham would eventually hit Vince Sanford on an eight-yard scoring toss for the game’s final score. One of the most improved players in the GMC, Cunningham went 25-for-40 for 377 yards and three touchdowns.
Lakota East started to drive again, but with 2:35 left in the contest, Glenn fumbled the ball on the Hamilton 32-yard line. The Big Blue had one final shot to tie this game.
For the second week in a row, Hamilton found itself in a position to tie the game on a last possession. And like the week before, the Big Blue turned the ball over on downs and Lakota East was able to run out the clock.
Hamilton finished the affair with 514 yards of total offense while running 10 more plays than the Thunderhawks in defeat.
LAKOTA EAST 21-7-7-0-35
at HAMILTON 0-21-0-7-28
L: Glenn 2 run (VanFossen kick)
L: Jemison 3 run (VanFossen kick)
L: Glenn 5 run (VanFossen kick)
H: Riggins 11 pass from Cunningham (Oseguera kick)
L: Glenn 3 run (VanFossen kick)
H: Riggins 27 pass from Cunningham (Oseguera kick)
H: Murph 2 run (Oseguera kick)
L: Glenn 61 run (VanFossen kick)
H: Sanford 8 pass from Cunningham (Oseguera kick)
Records: Lakota East (3-1, 1-0); Hamilton (1-3, 0-1)
