For Devin. Hough High wins playoff game for former teammate, heads to NCHSAA semifinals
Just days after finding out that a former Hough High player had been shot and killed, the Huskies went to East Forsyth and won 17-7.
East Forysth, previously unbeaten, had scored 40 or more points in five of its past six games.
Hough won five days after finding out that Devin Chandler, a former Huskies’ star receiver, was one of three University of Virginia football players who were shot and killed while sleeping on a bus after coming back from a field trip.
Hough wore special helmet decals Friday with Chandler’s number on them.
And when the game started, two of the best teams in North Carolina came out flexing their defensive muscles.
After two three-and-outs — one by both teams — the Huskies got on the board first with a 40-yard field goal from 5-star kicker Nolan Hauser.
Late in the second quarter, the Huskies had the Eagles in a fourth-and-long situation when East Forsyth quarterback Jaylen Alexander-Raynor found Que’Sean Brown for a 24-yard touchdown to take a 7-3 lead.
With under two minutes to go in the first half, the Eagles had the ball deep in their own territory when a host of Huskies stormed through the offensive line to collect their eighth sack of the half. They forced a fumble and fell on the ball in the end zone to take the lead back, 10-7.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Eagles made a gutsy call on fourth-and-inches in their own territory. The Huskies stuffed the run and took over deep in Eagle’ territory setting up a Markell Quick touchdown reception.
Later in the third quarter, the Eagles got the ball back when the Huskies were driving by popping the ball loose from Saquon Osbourne on a catch over the middle.
As the Eagles were gaining momentum, the Huskies got a tipped interception to kill the Eagles’ drive. The Huskies took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
And that would stand, sending Hough to the state quarterfinals next week
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 10:14 PM.