Helena storms back, stuns Patriots
HOMEWOOD -- A 14-point halftime lead dissipated Friday night for the Homewood High School football team, which struggled to run the ball and had no answer for Helena’s dual-threat quarterback Luke Stamba.
Helena outscored Homewood by 18 points in the second half en route to a 28-24 victory in the Class 6A, Region 5 matchup.
“Give Helena a lot of credit for fighting back tonight,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said. “We weren’t able to run the football. We hit them on some big balls early, had some real methodical drives to start the game, but throughout the whole game, we were never able to run the football.”
Homewood ran for just 21 yards on 18 carries, with the longest run an 8-yard scamper by quarterback Pate Owen. Four runs went for negative yardage.
Unable to run the ball, the Patriots leaned on a dominant air attack in the first half, as quarterback Owen completed 13-of-17 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yard strike to Trae Ausmer. He had eight receptions for 144 yards to go along with his score, all in the first half.
Owen’s first touchdown pass came on the Patriots' first drive, completing his first two passes for 13 yards before finding Len Irvine for a 27-yard score. He found Cameron Green for a 1-yard touchdown a few minutes later, a couple of plays after hitting Green for a 19-yard pass that moved the ball to Helena’s 1-yard line.
Homewood’s attack was helped by consistent penalties committed by the Huskies. Helena roughed Owen after a 21-yard pass in the first quarter and committed a late hit penalty in the second quarter. For the night, the Huskies committed nine penalties for 112 yards.
Stamba got Helena on the board early in the second quarter with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Will Griffith, but the Patriots soon extended their lead back to 14 points with the 71-yard pass to Ausmer.
The second half was a different story, though, as the Huskies came out on their first drive and drove down the field, capping off a 73-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run from Stamba, who completed four passes for 31 yards and ran four times for 17 yards on the drive.
After Katie Crim kicked a 27-yard field goal to put Homewood up 24-14, Stamba took over.
On the third play of the Huskies’ ensuing drive, Stamba, as he had done all night, found room to run with his legs and took off for 22 yards.
Two plays later, Stamba found Riley Marks for a 33-yard pass to end the third quarter. Two plays later, he found Marks again for a 25-yard touchdown.
Owen’s second half wasn’t quite as dominant as his first, as the senior quarterback completed four of his 12 passes, adding 77 yards to give him 273 yards passing for the game.
Homewood appeared to be driving down the field to re-extend their lead early in the fourth quarter. Owen threw a quick pass to Ausmer over the middle, but the ball was tipped. When it appeared Helena might intercept the pass, Green jumped up and made the catch for a 23-yard gain. Another personal foul against Helena on the next play took Homewood to the Huskies’ 32-yard line.
But a 2-yard run, followed by three straight incompletions, killed the drive, giving Helena a chance to take the lead. Stamba and Helena running back Marquise Johnson took over, running the ball up the field.
After Homewood’s J’veon Snow broke up a third-down pass, Helena faced a must-convert fourth down. Stamba found Griffith, who took it 11 yards to the Homewood 24-yard line. A few plays later, Johnson put the Huskies on top for good with a 20-yard touchdown run.
Homewood was unable to pick up a first down on its next drive, ending the game.
Stamba finished with 240 total yards, 99 on the ground and 141 through the air, and three total touchdowns. Johnson finished with 66 yards rushing on 15 carries and the game-winning touchdown.
Helena moves to 2-1 on the season, while Homewood falls to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the region. Next up for the Patriots is a bye week before a road trip to Center Point on Sept. 27.
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