HCA Football Makes Defensive Statement in Win at South Robeson

Junior running back Marcus Scarborough rushed for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Crusader's 29-0 win against South Robeson

The Harrells Christian Academy Crusaders defeated South Robeson High School 29-0 to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The high octane Crusader offense did not disappoint against the South Robeson Mustangs. The HCA defense however was the real surprise after Friday night's performance. The Crusaders held the Mustangs to 174 total offensive yards and kept them out of the out of the end zone.

South Robeson won the toss to start the game but deferred to the second half. The Crusaders were quickly forced to punt. The Mustangs took over on their own 20. HCA's defense did not allow the Mustangs to find any offensive rhythm forcing them to punt. Senior, Fredrick Strickland, broke through the line and blocked the Mustang's punt giving the Crusaders the ball on the South Robeson 10 yard line.

The Crusaders were pushed back to the 15 yard line after a penalty but quickly bounced back and found the end zone on a 15 yard touchdown run by senior fullback Joseph Phaneuf. The Crusaders were not successful on the two point conversion attempt giving the Crusaders an early 6-0 lead.

The two teams continued to battle back and forth into the second quarter. The Crusaders extended their lead to 14-0 on a 37 yard touchdown run by junior Marcus Scarborough with 11:49 left to play in the first half.

The Crusader defense forced another three and out giving their high powered offense the ball back. Joseph Phaneuf punched the ball in for a touchdown after a long 60 yard drive to extend the Crusader lead to 22-0 with 2:25 left to play in the second quarter.

At the half the Crusaders found themselves leading 22-0. Marcus Scarborough led the Crusader rushing attack at the half with 108 yards on 13 carries and 1 touchdown.

South Robeson came out of halftime firing on offense. The Mustangs marched down the field with no problem. The Crusaders ,however, forced a fumble that was recovered by Davonta Best on the HCA 4  yard line.

The Crusaders could not convert off of the turnover and headed into the 4th quarter with a 22-0 lead over the Mustangs.

Marcus Scarborough found the end zone for his second touchdown of the night this time from 8 yards out to extend the Crusader lead to 29-0 with 6:11 left in the game.

The Crusaders stopped the Mustangs again and ran the clock out to seal the win.

Marcus Scarborough finished the game with 137 yards on 19 carries and 2 touchdowns. Joseph Phaneuf was a key contributor to the Crusader offensive attack with 91 yards on 15 carries and 2 touchdowns.

Head Coach Winfred Johnson excitedly stated after the game, "If you would have told me we would be 4-1 heading into our bye week I would have taken it in a heartbeat," he continued, "The key to our success is blocking. When our boys block well and our backs hit the holes hard we are a great offensive team and that is exactly what we did tonight."

The Crusaders head into a much needed bye week with a record of 4-1. The Crusaders will begin conference play at Wake Christian in two weeks on Friday October 3.

Follow HCA Athletics on twitter: @hca_athletics

Andrew Miller
HCA Athletics
Sports Reporter