CERES — All week long, Hughson High football coach Shaun King had his Huskies on upset alert.
Turns out, he probably shouldn’t have been so concerned.
Hughson (2-0) scored on all six of its possessions with its starters in the game, and the defense came through with two interceptions and a 90-yard fumble return in a 42-0 thumping of Central Valley on Friday.
“Last week, I was not happy,” said King, whose team is seeking its third consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section championship banner. “We had a tough week of practice because the first half — five fumbles — was unacceptable. Tonight, we had zero.”
The Huskies were led offensively by Arizona-bound quarterback Robert McDaniel. The 6-2, 200-pound senior completed 17 of 22 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. Of his five incompletions, only one could be truly be considered off target. The other four were catchable balls that were either dropped or led the receiver out of bounds by a step.
Running back Eli Wilbanks carried the ball 12 times for 48 yards and one score, and caught two passes for 13 yards.
But it was the defense that stole the show.
With Hughson holding a 35-0 lead, triggering a running clock in the fourth quarter, the only suspense that remained was whether the Huskies could maintain the shutout with their second unit on the field.
It appeared the Hawks would finally get on the board when they had first-and-goal from the 5 with just over 8 minutes to play in the contest. Senior running back Amir Drakeford carried the ball five times for 49 yards during the drive, but the Hawks coughed it up on first down, and junior cornerback Bryce Williams picked up the loose ball at the 10 and raced 90 yards for the game’s final score.
“I was trying to keep the outside contained to make sure the runner didn’t cut back to the sideline, because I’m the only guy there,” said Williams. “I grabbed the ball at the five, dropped it again, then I picked it back up and just hauled butt and tried to get there as fast as I could.”
With Hughson holding a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter, Central Valley had first-and-10 at its own 46 when Wilbanks, playing linebacker, picked off a pass and returned it 20 yards to CV’s 31. Eight plays later, Wilbanks capped the drive with a 2-yard blast into the end zone that made it 21-0 with less than 2 minutes to play in the first half.
Hughson’s second pick of the contest came midway through the third quarter when Colt Foss plucked the ball out of the air at the 26 and returned it 17 yards to CV’s 9.
“I thought I had a touchdown there,” said Foss. “But their guy made a really nice tackle.”
After an incomplete pass and a 1-yard sack of McDaniel, Wilbanks did the honors once more, going virtually untouched up the middle for a 10-yard score to make it 35-0 with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
“I’m happy,” said King, whose team hosts Pitman (1-1) on Friday. “It was a great, complete game. Offensively, defensively, it was good.”
Hughson took a 7-0 with an impressive seven-play drive that was capped by McDaniel’s 4-yard scoring strike to his brother, Bryce McDaniel, with 6:32 showing in the opening stanza.
The Huskies forced the Hawks to turn the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession, and McDaniel marched the offense 64 yards on 11 plays for another score. He found Pitman transfer Lawson Aviles in the back of the end zone on a ridiculously accurate 19-yard strike to make it 14-0 with 6:19 left in the first half. It was an incredible throw and probably a better catch.
“I thought I was going to go through the back of the end zone,” said Aviles. “Turns out, I had plenty of room.”
Hughson took the opening kickoff after the intermission and went 65 yard in seven plays, with Malakai Sumter catching three passes for 35 yards during the drive, including a 7-yard TD pass that McDaniel threaded between three defenders to make it 28-0.
