Huskies take control in trenches in second half
WEEKLY BLOG: 11/26/21
After rolling through a pair of home games in last year's Open Division playoffs, the Hamilton Huskies found themselves in a battle against American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek. The visitors from the 4A Conference forced a pair of first-half turnovers and were down just 14-7 at the break with the second half kickoff coming their way.
But, there's a lot of talent and solid coaching with Hamilton, which is ranked No. 11 in the nation by MaxPreps and the top seed in the Open bracket. The Huskies made adjustments, pounded the ball on the ground, and came away with a 38-14 victory to advance to the semifinals next Saturday against Saguaro.
Hamilton quarterback Nicco Marchiol threw his 35th touchdown pass of the season and added a pair of rushing scores. Junior Nick Switzer took high honors with his 13-carry, 173-yard night with a touchdown. Marchiol was 17-of-20 for 153 yards with 18 of those attempts coming in the first half.
The Huskies came in averaging 242 passing yards per game and Marchiol showed he could hit a variety of pass catchers. HHS went 74 yards in 11 plays with six of those passes. All were completed to six different receivers. The first points of the game were on a QB keeper to give Hamilton a 7-0 lead.
It doesn't bother Marchiol whether the touchdowns come on the ground or via the passing game.
"As long as you're helping the team win, that's what matters," Marchiol said. It's cool that I can use my legs and show a different side of my game."
ALA-Queen Creek (9-2) played in the 4A Conference for just its second season. The Patriots were pulled up to the Open Division via the AIA computer formula. ALAQC gave the Huskies all they could handle in that first half. Nate Laduke became the first Arizona HS player to intercept Marchiol, a West Virginia commit, this season. It came off of a tip. Marchiol's only other interception this year came against Bishop Gorman. On its next possession, Hamilton reached the 1-yard line, but fumbled an option pitch. Jaden Manwaring recovered for the Patriots.
But, ALA-Queen Creek couldn't take advantages of those turnovers. Hamilton (11-0) added another score in the second quarter as Marchiol connected with his favorite target this season, Christian Anaya.
"That's a play we've been working on for two weeks," Marchiol said. "There's a really good chance he's going to be open somewhere and I just needed to give him a chance to make a play."
ALA-Queen Creek responded with its best drive of the game. The Patriots started at their own 20 and crossed midfield with a minute remaining in the half. Then, they got closer behind their 35-touchdown pass senior QB, Logan Hubler.
A holding penalty moved the Patriots back to the 11, but they put it in the end zone as Hubler hit a diving Ryan Meza for the score to make it a ball game at the intermission.
Getting the second-half kick, ALA-Queen Creek had one chance to tie the game. However, a penalty on the return backed the Patriots up to the 6-yard line. The Huskies' defense then forced a three-and-out and ALAQC punted from its own 13.
Earlier this season, the Patriots had shown a four-man front. With Hamilton's prominent passing game, ALA-Queen Creek wanted to cover the edges more and played with three defensive linemen. The Huskies determined the answer was to pound the ball on the ground in the second half, and they did just that.
Switzer went over the 100-yard mark in the third quarter and scored his fifth rushing TD of the season on a 17-yard run to make it a two-score game once again.
"Just put the till down and let it roll," Hamilton head coach Mike Zdebski said. "Our offensive line can move. We have three really good backs."
The Patriots threatened getting down to the six-yard line. But on second down, junior safety Genesis Smith came up with an interception.
"They played a great game," Zdebski said of the defense. "That's a very good offensive team. They give you a lot of formations, a lot of shifts. They make you work."
Starting from their own 10-yard line after the Smith interception, Hamilton continued to keep it on the ground and went all 90 yards on nine running plays. Marchiol finished it off with an eight-yard run.
The group of offensive linemen at Hamilton are known as "Tuck's Tanks" after offensive line coach Mark Tucker. The camaraderie around the group is one aspect that helps on Friday nights.
"We do everything together," center Griffin Stalfort said. "When we need to work, we work. We made some adjustments and watched what we need to do and then we executed."
Hubler started two seasons at ALA-Queen Creek and put up some gaudy numbers. He threw his 70th career TD pass in the first half and had more than 5,500 yards in his time on varsity. I've also heard about Hubler's speed and he showed it with his seventh rushing TD of the year (16th in his career). He audibled and opted for the QB draw. After going up the middle, Hubler showed that speed and took it 69 yards for a touchdown.
In addition to Switzer, and Logan Krei (another junior), the Huskies have sophomore Breylon Blount in their running back stable. Blount had 72 yards on just seven carries, with most of them coming in the team's final touchdown drive. Hamilton had the ball for nine possessions and never punted.
"They're a heavy-pass team," ALA-Queen Creek head coach Ty Detmer said. "We changed up our defense and went with a three-man front. In the second half, they found some creases in there."
Believe it or not, it was just two years ago in 2019, that the Patriots were crowned the 3A champions. The team moved up to 4A in 2020 and reached the semifinals. Before the season, nobody had ALA-Queen Creek as an Open Division contender. The Patriots' only regular-season loss came to Saguaro, 20-14.
"Great season for our kids," Detmer said. "We were never talked about with the Open early in the year. Great overall season for our program."
The enrollment at ALA-Queen Creek is just 1100 (compared to 3900 for Hamilton). The visiting bleachers were packed 30 minutes prior to game time, though.
"Our student government and our gridiron club worked hard to get a lot of the kids here," Detmer said. "What great support we have. It means a lot for all of us."
Hamilton will get to continue receiving its home crowd support as the Huskies host Saguaro. The teams are familiar with one another. In 2019, Saguaro edged Hamilton, 20-16 in the semifinals. During the 2020 season, they faced one another on ESPN in a game won by the Huskies, 13-7.
"I love playing at Jerry Loper Stadium," Stalfort said. "It's the best having all our fans behind us."
First Quarter:
Ham - Nicco Marchiol 1 yard run (Matthew Krneta kick), 7:13
Second Quarter:
Ham - Christian Anaya 13 yard pass from Marchiol (Krneta kick), 4:25
ALA - Ryan Meza 11 yard pass from Logan Hubler (Drayson Hatch kick), 0:40
Third Quarter:
Ham - Switzer 17 yard run (Krneta kick), 8:45
Fourth Quarter:
Ham - Marchiol 8 yard run (Krneta kick), 11:00
Ham - Krneta 31 yard FG, 5:07
ALA - Hubler 69 yard run (Hatch kick), 3:36
Ham - Breylon Blount 1 yard run (Krneta kick), 2:11
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