Football Earns First Shutout Since 2011
Deerfield, IL – The Hastings College football team opened up its season by shutting out Trinity International 28-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Deerfield, IL – The Hastings College football team opened up its season by shutting out Trinity International 28-0 on Saturday afternoon.
The Bronco defense was asked to take the field first and did so with a bang as Beasley Ihegworo stopped Melvin Bobo for a three yard loss on the game's first play from scrimmage. From there the defense forced a three-and-out giving the Hastings offense a short field.
After just one play, Hastings was already down to the Trinity 33 yard line after a pass interference was called on Ramon Davis. John Zamora then got loose for an eight yard gain and then Brett Simonsen carried the ball four times getting the Broncos in perfect scoring position inside the one where Zamora snuck in behind his offensive line for the touchdown and the early 7-0 lead after Jason Bachle made the extra point.
The defense again stopped the Trojans this time on a third and one as Paxton Terry met Javier Acosta at the line of scrimmage for no gain forcing a punt.
Two big plays as Zamora rushed 21 yards to the Trinity 24 and then he connected with Jaishawn Wright for 29 yards as the Broncos were poised again to score. Two plays later, Simonsen took it in from four yards out to give HC the 14-0 lead following the Bachle kick and then field position began to give the Bronco offense some trouble.
With the offense being pinned back, the Bronco defense refused to let the Trojans score and early in the second quarter, TIU had the ball at the Hastings 19 but a pass out to Bobo was stopped in its tracks by Caden Egr and the Trojans were forced to try a 36 yard field goal. Cameron Outlaw went on to miss keeping the shutout in tact. Outlaw would go on to miss another field goal with roughly a minute left before halftime as Hastings held on to its 14-0 lead into the break.
To start the second half, Antoine Murphy returned the kickoff 50 yards to the TIU 31 where Zamora and the Bronco offense would take advantage. After a few rushes got the ball to the Trinity 22, Hastings faced a fourth and one where Zamora connected with Wright for his first career touchdown and the 21-0 lead in the third quarter.
The Bronco defense would give Hastings a short field once again when Terry forced an Acosta fumble and recovered it at the Trojan 17 but the Bronco drive would stall on a fourth down.
The Hastings defense did a lot of bending on the next drive as Trinity moved the ball inside the Bronco 10 but the stiffened as Laython Shaw and Harrison Udeh team up to take down Acosta in the back field on second and goal from the five. After Egr pushed Cameron Jones out at the HC four, Liam Mickle could not connect with Mario Combs on fourth down as the Bronco defense came up with another big stop.
The defense would come up big on TIU's next drive as the Trojans were in plus territory again only to have Chris Paitz intercept the Mickle pass in the end zone for a touchback. Just three plays later Zamora found a streaking Courtney Lane for a 60-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 late in the third.
From here, the Bronco D would turn Trinity over on downs three more times before the clock would show 0:00 as Hastings brought home its first shutout victory since 2011 when Hastings defeated Midland 17-0 on Oct. 15.
Paitz led the defense with eight total tackles, an interception and two pass breakups. Carlo Terrell had a solid game with six solo tackles and three pass breakups. Egr finished with seven solo tackles. Jesse Ulrich in his return finished with four tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.
Zamora finished the game with 125 passing yards and two touchdowns. Simonsen led the Broncos with 82 yards rushing on 22 carries and a score. Hastings finished with 253 yards of offense while the Trojans finished with 308.
Hastings is now 1-0 on the year and will be back in action Saturday Sept. 3 hitting the road to take on Midland with kickoff set for 1:00 pm in Fremont, NE.
