The West Platte Bluejays dropped a home game against the Hamilton Hornets on Friday, Oct. 11.
On an extremely cold night with wind chills in the low 30s, Hamilton got off to a hot start, scoring a touchdown near the end of the first quarter, capping it off with a successful point after.
DEREK BIGUS/Special to the Citizen
Hamilton’s Landon Huff goes up for a catch while being defended by West Platte’s Trenton Holmes during a game on Friday, Oct. 11 in Weston.
On Hamilton’s next drive, they fumbled the ball, and it was scooped up by Bluejays’ senior Brayden Cogan, who was tackled at the Hornets’ 10-yard line. Cogan finished the night with nine tackles. Cogan did not just recover a game-changing fumble; he also led the Bluejays in receiving yards with 28, which he recorded on just one reception.
Just a couple of plays later, West Platte was in the end zone thanks to a touchdown scored by senior Brandon James on a running play. James finished the night with 43 of the team’s 106 rushing yards on 13 carries. Unfortunately for the Bluejays, this would be their last trip to the end zone.
An unsuccessful point after left Hamilton with a 7-6 lead, and the Hornets never looked back.
West Platte allowed Hamilton to pound in two more touchdowns in the next 10 minutes, leaving the Hornets with a 21-7 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, not much changed. West Platte was able to keep Hamilton out of the end zone for as long as they could, but eventually, the Hornets would find their way back, scoring another touchdown to make the score 28-6 near the end of the third.
However, once the fourth quarter started, it was a clash of the defenses. Neither offense got anything going in the fourth; both were held scoreless.
These fourth-quarter defensive stands for the Bluejays were led by senior Jacob Brown, who had 18 total tackles, and sophomore Emmett Sullivan, who finished the night with 10 total tackles. Over the course of the entire game, the Bluejays did not land a single TFL.
Both teams played relatively solid defense the whole game. Hamilton was limited to eight first downs and West Platte to just five.
The game ended with the Hamilton Hornets taking a win on the road with the final score 28-6.
Bluejays sophomore quarterback Dublin Carnahan went 6/11 passing the ball, earning 85 passing yards on the night, while running for 35 yards on 13 carries. Carnahan was also given punting responsibilities, and he sure showed up. On his three punts, he totaled 105 yards — an average of 35 yards per punt.
This loss was the Bluejays’ sixth consecutive one, all by double digits. The Bluejays move to 1-6 on the season with their lone win coming against non-conference opponent Lone Jack back in late August.
On Friday, Oct. 18, the Bluejays will host the red-hot Mid-Buchanan Dragons, who enter the game with a 6-1 record. The Dragons have outscored their opponents 176-12 in their last four games.