Second Half Surge by Crusaders Comes Up Short in Conference Championship Game

The Harrells Christian Academy Crusader football team lost to Ravenscroft Friday night, 34-26, in the NCISAA Big East Conference Championship game. The HCA offensive attack started off slow by not finding the end zone in the first quarter. The Ravens converted on the Crusaders' struggles with an early score on a 1 yard touchdown run to give the Ravens an early 7-0 lead.

The Ravens came up with two more defensive stops that set up two more touchdowns to extend their lead to 20-0 in the second quarter. The Crusaders finally found the end zone on a 21 yard touchdown run by Marcus Scarborough to narrow the scoring gap to 20-7 with 5:05 left to play in the first half. Ravenscroft answered back with another touchdown on a 9 yard touchdown run to extend the Ravens' lead back to 27-7 in the waining stages of the first half.

Ravenscroft received to start the second half but were stopped on on fourth down by the Crusader defense. HCA found the end zone on a 21 yard touchdown reception from OH Rouse to Marcus Scarborough to make the score 27-13 with 5:45 in the third quarter. The early second half score sparked new life into the Crusaders allowing them to make a second half run towards a comeback win.

The Crusaders came up big on the ensuing defensive possession. Davonta Best intercepted a screen pass by the Ravens and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. The defensive touchdown cut the deficit to 27-20 with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

The Ravens answered with with a 29 yard touchdown run to make the score 34-20 in the early stages of the fourth quarter. HCA however, offered a counter attack on a 73 yard touchdown pass from OH Rouse to Davonta Best, for the second passing score of the night, to shorten the Ravens lead to 34-26.

The Crusader defense then forced a long field goal by the Ravens that was pushed to the left leaving the score 34-26 with less than a minute to play. The Crusader offense was then stopped on fourth down allowing the Ravens to seal the 34-26 victory and claim the title of NCISAA Big East Conference Champions.

Marcus Scarborough led the Crusader's offensive attack with 155 yards on 30 carries with 1 touchdown. The junior running back also caught one pass that resulted in a 21 yard touchdown reception.  OH Rouse finished the game with 94 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Davonta Best contributed all over the field for the Crusaders with 73 receiving yards and one touchdown to go along with an interception returned 46 yards for a score. Seniors OH Rouse and Fredrick Strickland combined for 20 tackles on the defensive side of the ball for the Crusaders.

HCA enters the NCISAA Division ll State Playoffs as a #5 seed. The Crusaders will travel to Concord to take on the Cannon School in the first round of the playoffs on Friday November 7- Kickoff at 7:00. The Crusaders defeated the Cougars 75-7 in their match up last year. The two teams enter the game with records of 5-5. HCA hopes to start their playoff run with a win Friday night in search for yet another State Championship Title. HCA has claimed 13 state titles in the history of the football program, however the Crusaders have not staked their claim as State Champions since 2008.

The Crusaders enter the State Playoffs as a 5 seed and look to make a run for a State Championship under the leadership of first year head coach Winfred Johnson.