Hale, Millard South pound Lincoln East in opener
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BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
The lightning bolts shaved into Jordan Hale’s hair couldn’t have been more prophetic.
The Millard South senior rushed for 200 yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the Class A top-ranked Patriots to a 50-3 victory against Lincoln East on Thursday at Seacrest Field before a crowd of 3,486.
“One of my buddies did it (shaved his hair). It was just something new for the first game,” said Hale, 5-foot-11, 180-pound speedster who moved to running back this year. “They’re probably going off tonight.”
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Millard South beats Lincoln East
Sights, scenes and sounds from the high school football opener Thursday at Seacrest Field. Millard South beat Lincoln East 50-3. (Ken Hambleton / Jour...
Hale was off like a bolt of lightning on the second play of the game, racing 92 yards for a TD.
The Spartans answered with a 10-play drive that was capped by a 32-yard field goal by Nick Kohler, but after that, it was all Millard South.
The Patriots pushed past the 400-yard rushing mark before an errant snap in the fourth quarter resulted in a 23-yard loss. Still, Millard South finished with 393 yards rushing on just 32 carries.
Quarterback Bronson Marsh added 94 yards passing and the Patriots racked up 130 yards in return yards for 617 all-purpose yards.
“I honestly didn’t expect that. We got off to kind of a slow start, but once we got in the groove, Jordan had a great game,” said Millard South coach Andy Means. “He’s a great football player. The offensive line and defensive line slowly took over and that’s where I think we’re more improved over last year.
“We have more speed than we’ve ever had. The thing about Jordan is that sometimes he doesn’t look like he’s running that fast, but he’s running way from people.”
Hale sprinted 46 yards late in the first quarter to put Millard South up 15-3. After Marsh rambled 57 yards on the Patriots’ next possession, Hale bulled his way into the end zone from 5 yards out.
He added a 31-yard touchdown with 2:10 left in the first half, and after the Millard South defense held East to just 1 yard on three plays, Hale gathered in a Spartan punt and raced 58 yards for a score and a 36-3 halftime lead.
“In the past years, I’d been playing wide receiver. I always wanted to play running back and I was real excited to get this first game under my belt,” Hale said. “We have a little bit more depth at receiver this year and I think it’s been a plan for me to go to running back my senior year.
“When you play running back, you always have to keep your legs pumping. I can’t give enough credit to the line play tonight. Tonight they came out and dominated the running game. It was mostly them, not mostly me. We both have jobs to do.”
Spartan coach John Gingery said he was impressed with Millard South’s attack.
“There’s a reason they’re No. 1. They’re tough and have a great team,” he said. “They’re big and they’re strong and they’re physical and they’re fast and they’re balanced.
“I figured they’d throw the ball a lot and would spread the field to open up the running game. But they were having so much success with the running game, they really didn’t have to.”
Scott Sunderman passed for 50 of his 73 yards on the Spartans’ first drive. He found Drew Sankey over the middle for a 25-yard pickup before the drive stalled and East had to settle for field goal.
“We moved it early and did some things we thought we could do,” Gingery said. “But after that, we really had a tough time doing much of anything.”
Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.
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