Hendrickson stadium is not fancy by any means (I guess I am spoiled cause I am used to DW Rutledge, Heroes, Farris, and Comalander who have elevators, bathrooms, and plenty of room for me to do my stats). The bathroom on the home side was the hottest bathroom I have been in during a football game (it was like 150 degrees and very humid…I walked in and was already drenched in sweat).
The press-box at Hendrickson was big enough for me, but the dude from the Austin American Statesman was sitting with us (and he was sitting where I wanted to be)!! Oh, if you read the stats from the Austin American Statesman from the game last night, you can thank me because I provided them!! So, basically, from where I did my stats last night, I couldn’t see the scoreboard and about 30 yards of the field. Bobby Stautzenberger and Tony Franklin stood most of the game and I had to get on my tippy toes to see over them!! I was’t in my stat comfort zone.
I do think that Judson has one of the toughest schedules this year. Last year, Hendrickson had an undefeated regular season but lost there first playoff game.
Judson, this season, has a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterback, and last night a Freshman started at running back. Returning to the offense as wide receivers are Nick Ortiz and Michael Akai along with Nicholas Wildberger, Jacob Alonzo, and Abdul Beecham on the offensive line. Malik Taylor also is returning as a running back, but he didn’t play last night. Oh, I normally don’t mention defensive players, but Judson defensive stud Kevion Ramsey tore his ACL a few weeks ago and is out of the season.
I didn’t quite know what to expect from the Rockets last night, to be honest!! It was my first time seeing the new quarterback, Michael Maloto and Freshman running back, Julon Williams (Jarveon Williams little brother). Jarveon is at UTSA and last night he had 12 carries for 54 yards and 1 touchdown for the Roadrunners!!! WOW!!!
Let me provide you some numbers from the first half of the game:
Hendrickson 23 and Judson 0 — Halftime score
Judson ran 30 plays for 40 yards
Hendrickson had 6 players with more yards than Judson
Judson had 43 yards in penalties
In my many many many years of covering Judson football, this was by far one of the worst offensive performances. It looked like Hendrickson was gonna win a blow-out. And, quite possibly, a shut-out!!
Gosh, I was so relieved when Judson scored in the 3rd quarter on a quarterback run!!! Going into the 4th quarter, the Rockets trailed 30 to 7!!
In the 4th quarter, the Judson Rockets looked like the Judson Rockets I know…holy crap, they scored 4 touchdowns and even a had a lead of 34 to 30!!! The touchdown that gave Judson the lead was a 68 yard reception from Maloto to Michael Akai and dude, it was absolutely amazing and the three of us in the press-box were jumping for joy!!! WOW!!! What a HUGE turn-a-round for the Judson Rockets.
Hendrickson, if they wanted to win the game and escape a meltdown, had to score a touchdown and only had 2 minutes to do it. The quarterback for Hendrickson, Carrington Kearney, took matters into his own feet with a very long run which did set them up for the winning touchdown.
The final score was Hendrickson 37 and Judson 34. So close for the Rockets…had the Rockets won, this game would’ve been the comeback of the year!!
The Rockets could’ve easily given up, but that is not in the Rocket vocabulary!!! What a great game!!
Judson, for the entire game, ran 60 plays for 409 yards. The quarterback, Michael Maloto, was 13 of 21 passing for 249 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also had 17 carries for 40 yards with 2 touchdowns. I think we saw him grow up before our very eyes last night.
Freshman running back, Julon Williams, had 17 carries for 86 yards. Michael Akai, one of the receivers had 5 receptions for 120 yards and 1 touchdown. Isaiah Gibson, a Junior wide receiver, had 2 receptions for 97 yards and both were touchdowns.
The Hendrickson Hawks ran 62 plays for 364 yards. Running back, Tazh Maloy, had 25 carries for 97 yards with 2 touchdowns. Carrington Kearney, the quarterback, had 8 carries for 84 yards. Kearny was 5 of 16 passing for 91 yards with 1 touchdown. His back-up, Ian Starkey, was more effective as he was 7 of 8 passing for 79 yards with 1 touchdown. Isaiah Townes, had 4 receptions for 48 yards, Reggie Daniels, had 5 receptions for 56 yards with 1 touchdown, and Lawrence Hill had a 50 yard touchdown reception.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hawks had another undefeated regular season. I could also see them making a longer playoff run than last season.
Next week, Judson plays Brandeis and I expect Judson to have a better start.
Tonight, I will be at Farris stadium as the O’Connor Panthers host the Reagan Rattlers.
