The Cass Colonels lost to the Hiram Hornets 50-20 Friday night.
Cass received the opening kickoff, looking to take control of the game early, but fumbled on its opening possession. Hiram recovered the ball and took advantage of the opportunity by connecting on a 48-yard-field to gain an early 3-0 lead.
The Cass offense went to work on the following drive with Brodie McWhorter connecting with Sacovie White for a 23-yard touchdown pass to put Cass ahead 7-3 with about eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The rest of the opening quarter was pretty quiet scoring-wise, but Hiram regained the lead, scoring a rushing touchdown to go ahead 9-7 late in the first quarter, preceding Hiram’s PAT getting partially blocked
Like the back half of the first quarter, the second quarter was quiet for both teams’ offense, but Hiram brought the action back with another rushing touchdown to extend its lead. That should’ve been all of the scoring for the first half, but Hiram had one last possession right before the half expired and they were able to get into Cass territory before kicking a short field goal to extend its lead to 19-7 going into halftime.
Cass was set to kick for the second-half kickoff and the Colonels tried to shift the momentum, attempting an onside kick. However, Hiram recovered and the Hornets would score a long rushing touchdown just a few plays later to extend their lead to 26-7. After allowing a touchdown within the first minute of the third quarter, Cass desperately needed to respond with a touchdown of its own. Unfortunately, the Colonels could not as Cass fumbled again, and Hiram recovered the ball at the Cass 14-yard line. The Hornets took advantage of the takeaway, scoring a short rushing touchdown a few plays later to extend their lead to 33-7 with around 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The beginning of the third quarter was not ideal for Cass, but the Colonels were able to finally put some points on the board as Kevin Henderson scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 33-13 before Cass missed the PAT
Hiram didn’t let Cass gather any momentum, though, and the Hornets drove down the field and scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown of their own to extend their lead to 40-13 late in the third quarter. Cass was unable to respond and Hiram added another short touchdown run to go ahead 47-13 with under a minute to go in the quarter.
Since Hiram was up by 37 points, there was a running clock to start the fourth quarter. That didn’t stop the Hornets from scoring some more points, though, as they made a 42-yard field goal to extend their lead to 50-13 early in the fourth quarter.
Cass would also get on the board in the fourth quarter, as Brodie McWhorter connected with Chase Tatum for a short touchdown pass to make the score 50-20 midway through the quarter. Hiram ran the clock out to end the game and lock in a playoff berth.
With this loss, Cass is now 4-5 on the season and 1-3 in its region. The Colonels will look to get back on the winning side – or else – next Friday night against Calhoun. Both teams need to win in order to get into the state playoffs. You can hear the action by streaming Bartow Sports Zone.