Hammac passes for 322 yards, 2 touchdowns as ECHS rolls
By JOSH FRYE
News Sportswriter
Escambia County High caged Monroe County’s Tigers last Friday, September 6, defeating the visitors 46-0 and improving their season record to 2-0.
Quarterback Jacob Hammac led the Blue Devils offense, completing 18 of 24 pass attempts for two touchdowns and 322 yards.
Escambia County kicked off the scoring early on a 45-yard pass from Hammac to Allen Patterson with 9:36 left in the first quarter. Aaron Calva’s PAT kick made it 7-0, and the Blue Devils never looked back.
Just under two minutes later, ECHS’s Shelton McKenzie blocked a Tiger punt attempt during MCHS’s first drive of the game. Trae Bradley recovered the batted football and ran 20 yards for another ECHS touchdown.
Calva added the extra-point kick, and the Blue Devils had a 14-0 advantage.
The ECHS offense continued to strike during the second quarter. After taking over on a quick series of MCHS downs, Patterson broke through with a huge 45-yard run, setting up another Bradley 2-yard touchdown rush that extended the ECHS lead to 20-0.
With just over a minute left before the half, Hammac launched a 44-yard pass to Patterson, setting up a 4-yard Craig Brown touchdown run, stretching the Blue Devils lead to 27-0.
ECHS continued to shut down the MCHS offense during the second half, blocking a punt during the Tigers first drive of the half. Following the blocked punt, Tyson Moorer scored on a 24-yard run.
Brown helped to extend the Blue Devils lead by following up Moorer’s huge run with a 1-yard rush into the end zone. The touchdown was followed up with another true Calva boot, extending the Blue Devils lead to 34-0.
The ECHS defense continued to hold the Tigers back on the next drive, forcing another turnover.
Following the defensive series, Patterson returned to the sidelines with a shoulder injury that benched him for the remainder of the game.
With 3:55 left in the third quarter, Willie Banks drove downfield for a 32-yard run, setting himself up for a 1-yard touchdown burst. The extra-point attempt failed, but ECHS led 40-0.
The Tigers remained silent during the fourth quarter, and Anthony McCants replaced Hammac at quarterback. McCants picked up where Hammac left off, scoring the final touchdown on a quarterback keeper with 5:33 remaining in the game to polish off the 46-0 victory.
“We are catching the ball really well,” ECHS head coach Scott Mason said. “Hammac is getting comfortable with his receivers, and the team is catching onto the routes. We are a little banged up with injuries to key players, but that is expected. Our defense has some work to do. Our tackling was not up to our normal high mark.”
Mason stressed that defense will be the main focus going into this week’s game against Hillcrest-Evergreen, where the first real test of the season will lie. After the first week of Class 4A, Region 1 play, ECHS is tied for first place with Hillcrest, UMS-Wright and Williamson.