Last Saturday night the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots Football team played in Northwestern. The Patriots came out with a new offensive threat we haven't been able to really put together until we played the wildcats. A new comer came onto the scene with one of our leaders, #4 Patrick Maynard out with an injury. #22 Neil Salmen stepped in to play quarterback for us. He ended with with 152 yards passing and two passing touchdowns.
Our offensive line play is continuing to improve with one of our seniors, #62 Mikael Nielson leading the charge. Our defensive line is also working hard to improve. #56 Dalton Rathjen made a tackle in the game where he completely rapped his arms around his offensive lineman to grab the running back and never let go eventually bringing him to the ground. It was an impressive tackle in my opinion. He ended with four solo tackles, two for a loss. #10 Tristan Nowell came up big with a defensive fumble recovery for us in the first quarter. #55 Preston Wipf is continuing to make plays for us on both sides of the ball. He ended with 5 solo tackles and 62 receiving yards. #5 Derek Johnson had a big game for us offensively, throwing a 25 yard pass, running the ball six times for 54 yards, and two rushing touchdowns. Our other seniors had great games as well, #23 Blaze Binger had five solo tackles and two for a loss. He also had 148 yards rushing with a touchdown as well. #8 Payton Chasing Hawk had two big catches in the game and a big time defensive play forcing a fumble for #55 Preston Wipf to recovery. Great job HT Patriots!
Our first true test will be this Friday at 7PM against Sully Buttes in Onida. I think we match up well, as long as we do the littles right we will end up with a win. It is supposed to be live streamed, but Sully Buttes' live stream playing Burke was not impressive, so hopefully it is run better, but if you are able in person support is always beneficial. Thank you to all who are continuing to support the HT Patriots. Let's Go HT Patriots!