Hough coach got pleasant surprise from his team in season-opening win over Myers Park

It was Meet the Huskies Night for Hough High football coach Matthew Jenkins.

“To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised,” Jenkins told his team early Friday morning, shortly after the Huskies had completed a 32-16 victory over Myers Park in the nightcap of the season-opening doubleheader at Memorial Stadium.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” Jenkins added.

Jenkins is certainly familiar with his team, which is loaded with returnees from the squad that went 7-0 in the spring regular season and finished 8-1 with a second-round playoff loss to eventual 4AA state champion Chambers.

But the Huskies’ coach hadn’t seen his team over the past two weeks.

“I was out for 10 days — quarantine,” said Jenkins, who had a close encounter with COVID-19 earlier this month.

Jenkins said he tried to keep in touch with what was happening in practice. He talked to coaches and to some players. He saw some video.

“Watching the team on film is not the same as being at practice,” he said. “I told the team on Wednesday that I didn’t know what to expect.”

But he got to see the real thing Thursday night — and Friday morning. A lightning delay in the first game of the doubleheader prevented Myers Park and Hough from kicking off their contest until 9:40 p.m.

It was 12:09 a.m. Friday when Huskies’ quarterback Tad Hudson took a knee on the final play of the game.

So what do we make of Hough and Myers Park?

▪ Both teams have excellent quarterbacks, something that most fans already knew. Hudson, a junior who has committed to North Carolina, completed 14 of 24 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for another score.

Jenkins said the Hough quarterback made some changes in plays at the line of scrimmage that worked out.

Meanwhile, Myers Park’s Lucas Lenhoff completed 15 of 29 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed a 49-yard pass late in the first half that was called back by a holding penalty.

Lenhoff was picked off three times, but two of those were passes that were bobbled by receivers.

▪ The two teams look like title contenders in their conferences. Hough will have to deal with two-time defending state champion Chambers in the Queen City 3A-4A, and Myers Park will have Ardrey Kell, Olympic and South Mecklenburg to deal with in the South Meck 4A. But the Huskies and Mustangs are loaded with Division 1 recruits and played at a high level at times Thursday night.

▪ Both teams have work to do. “We’ll be doing some running Monday,” Jenkins told his team after the game. “We made some mistakes out there.”

Later, Jenkins told reporters that the Huskies “have some things to clean up.”

Each team went offsides once in the game, allowing the other team to get a first down. And there was the holding penalty that might have cost Myers Park a touchdown.

Myers Park’s opening punt was blocked by Hough’s Isaiah Brown-Murray. But Hough had two bad snaps on punts, one of which resulted in a safety. That enabled the Mustangs to close the gap to 26-16 in the third quarter.

“It was an uneven performance,” Jenkins said. “I know we have a good team. I knew that coming in. But we made some mistakes.”

Lobbying for a return

Jenkins said he’d like to see playoff games, especially in the later rounds, moved to Memorial Stadium. Praising the refurbished facility, Jenkins said, “It would be a great place for a regional final.”

Charlotte Catholic coach Mike Brodowicz made a similar assessment after his team’s game.

“This is a great place to play football, and it’s even nicer now,” he said.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle