The Hiram Terriers’ football team is off to its best start this season in over 10 years. The Terriers used a fourth quarter surge to slip past Manchester 20-11 last Saturday afternoon at Malsimur Stadium’s Charles A. Henry Field at Hiram College.
“It was huge from the standpoint to see the growth that we have had from my time here,” said Coach Xavier Dupree. “In previous years, in a game like that where it is tight and you have to gut it out, we might have lost that game. For our guys to show the resilience that they showed, the togetherness and being able to put some drives together and to be able to continue to get stops, it was a big-time win for us.”
It marks the first time since the 2014 season that the Terriers (2-0, 0-0) have won their first two games of the season. Defensively, Hiram has been stout in its first two games, only surrendering 13 points in its first eight quarters of play.
On Saturday, the game was a defensive duel, with Hiram holding a slim 7-3 lead against the Spartans entering the fourth quarter. Over the first three quarters, each team had only scored points in the second period, with the first and third quarters being scoreless stalemates.
The second-year coach acknowledged that Hiram had squandered several promising drives throughout the game entering the final period of regulation.
Hiram engineered a 12-play, 86-yard drive capped off by junior tailback R.J. Johnson scoring on a one-yard touchdown run, pushing the Terriers ahead 14-3.
The Spartans responded with a quick four-play, 60-yard drive finished off by junior wideout Levi Campbell catching a 37-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Donovan Williams, trimming the lead to 14-11 after Manchester successfully converted a two-point conversion.
Hiram responded with several big plays, with freshman wide receiver Taije Nicholson hauling in an 11-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Sean Tejada on a fourth-and-five from Manchester’s 11, extending the Terriers’ lead to 20-11.
Dupree said that the Terriers had the option of kicking a field goal, but he decided that it was worth the risk to attempt a fourth-down conversion, as a field goal would not give Hiram much breathing room.
“Our defense had been playing well but we knew what they wanted to do offensively and so kicking a field goal at that point and time and only going up six points does not do us any good because they could still score a touchdown and add an extra point and we would be down by a point,” he added.
Tejada’s touchdown pass to the 6-foot-3 Nicholson marked a significant milestone, as he officially surpassed Ron Dovorsky as the all-time program leader in passing yards. Dovorsky had held the record for 38 years with 7,012 passing yards.
The 5-foot-10 senior completed 21 passes out of 33 attempts for 266 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Spartans.
“Sean is not just a great football player, he is a great person too,” said Dupree. “He has been through a lot and done a lot for us as a team and as a program. Sean would be the first person to tell you that he feels like he did not play his best game on Saturday but even with all of that being said, that is a testament to who he is.”
With 3:41 left in regulation, the Terriers took another risk, attempting an onside kick to retain possession and bleed more time off the clock, and Hiram’s gamble paid off as it recovered the onside kick at the Manchester 43.
“We had been practicing that all week and our kicker, give credit to Sam Lee, he had been practicing it every day and he was putting the ball in the right spot and credit to our special team’s coordinator, Coach Brock Mancini, for calling it,” noted Dupree. “We felt good about it all week so once we saw and got the look that we wanted, let us try it again and see what we can get so we converted on it.”
Manchester received the ball one more time with 1:30 remaining on the clock but the Terriers’ defense stood tall, keeping the Spartans out of the end zone, securing Hiram’s second consecutive victory of the season.
“We had the lead and that was about making sure that we finish the game and that is what we did, that is what I preached to them at halftime, that is what we talked about after halftime, just finishing the game,” added Dupree.
Hiram will begin play in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference by hitting the road to face league foe Thiel College at Alumni Stadium’s Stoeber Field in Greenville, PA on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
