“That was a great drive against an outstanding defensive line,” Thunderhawks coach Greg Bailie said of the possession that ate 7 minutes and 33 seconds off the game clock and ended with a 28-yard field goal by Austin Weinheimer to make it a three-possession game with 8:06 remaining.
The shutout was Lakota East’s first since a 21-0 victory against Fairfield in 2006, and it raised the Thunderhawks’ record to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the Greater Miami Conference.
Hamilton fell to 2-6 and 1-4 in the GMC and ran its scoreless drought to 88 minutes and 48 seconds.
“We’ve lost our personality on offense,” Big Blue coach Jim Place said. “It’s just hard to believe. Two weeks ago we were a really good football team, but we’ve just regressed. And I don’t have an answer.”
Casey O’Shea had 11 tackles and Brogan Murphy added nine, including three sacks, as East held Hamilton to just 163 total yards of offense.
Thunderhawks running back Pedro Powell eclipsed that mark all by himself, rushing 29 times for 178 yards, including touchdown jaunts of 42 and 57 yards in the first half.
“That was just the O-line doing their jobs, and good blocks by the wide receivers, too,” said Powell, who surpassed the 1,000-yard mark to bring his season total to 1,097.
Hamilton, which hasn’t scored since the first quarter of last week’s 17-7 loss at Mason, had been averaging 161 rushing yards per game. But East held Big Blue to just 50 yards on 36 carries.
“We watched film every day and practiced every single move they did, and we got it down out there,” said Murphy, whose three sacks were a career high.
• About the only good news on the night for HHS was the fact the athletic department is $5,000 richer after computer science teacher Dan Richter won a halftime contest sponsored by KISS 107 FM.
Richter, who also coaches junior varsity boys and girls tennis, had to throw nine footballs through a target in under a minute. By doing so, he earned $5,000 for himself and $5,000 for the school.
“It’s funny because I was just pricing new tennis uniforms earlier this week,” he said.
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