Welcome to HickoryRecord.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

HickoryRecord.com - Hickory Daily Record

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Houser breaks record as Trojans win league title

By Paul Fogleman

Record Sports Correspondent

Published: November 7, 2009

CATAWBA - Senior Night is always one to be stored in the memory bank.

Throw in the possibility of a conference championship along with a career milestone on the line, and the evening brings a little more juice.

Behind a second-half surge that saw Bandys High shake loose from pesky Bunker Hill, the Trojans accomplished both, securing their first league title in six years while also witnessing their quarterback add a new chapter in the school's record book with a 46-17 victory at Bandys.

Senior quarterback Kyle Houser connected on 11-of-14 throws for 245 yards with three touchdowns and one interception and the Trojans scored 27 third-quarter points to break away from Bunker Hill and capture the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A crown with a 7-0 mark.

Needing only 150 passing yards to become Bandys' most prolific thrower, the Trojans' signal-caller connected with Seth Cranfill on a slant route across the middle for a 40-yard completion midway through the third quarter, sending Houser past Zach Elliott in career passing yardage.

Houser now has 6,845 yards (unofficially), and the timing of the achievement could not have been sweeter, said Trojans head coach Randy Lowman.

"We knew if he stayed healthy and the offense did what it's set up to do, we knew he'd have a chance at (the record)," Lowman said. "He's just gotten better every week and he's always been a good athlete, but he's really matured as far as his leadership goes.

"I'm just glad he got it in his final regular season game."

And in one that landed Bandys (10-1 overall) its first conference championship since 2003.

Trenton Millsaps added 156 yards on 19 carries with four TDs, and the Trojans extended their victory-streak to seven.

When questioned about his team's champions label, Lowman admitted he was caught off guard by his team's run to the title.

"That (a league championship) is what you start out shooting for every year, but a lot of people where probably picking Newton-Conover or East Burke to win it," Lowman said. "To be honest I would've picked them too.

"But we won a couple of games we weren't picked to win, and we've been lucky and stayed healthy.
You couldn't have planned it any better, but now we have to start over again."

As CVAC champs, Bandys will be in line for a high seed when the postseason brackets are announced today (the Trojans could end up as the No. 1 seed for the West 2AA bracket).

With four wins, Bunker Hill also is playoff eligible.

Bears head coach Ron Turner said plenty of fingers will be crossed when invitations are extended.

"I told the kids, and especially the seniors, that they deserve that reward for as hard as they've worked this year and for the past three years," said Turner whose team finished 4-7 overall, 2-5 in league play. "We hope we get that reward, but it's out of our hands."

A 14-yard scoring pass from Houser to Kenny Hodge was matched by a 19-yard TD strike from Bunker Hill quarterback Cameron Beard to John Seagle to knot the score 7-7 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Houser then hooked up with Cranfill (four catches, 106 yards, one TD) for a 22-yard score stretching the Trojans' lead to 13-7, but Chris Spencer's 37-yard field goal trimmed the lead to 13-10.

Millsaps' 3-yard TD run made it 19-10 before Bandys dodged a potential momentum-shifting bullet as the first-half horn sounded.

Seagle's interception of a Houser pass and return to the Trojans' 38 with just over 21 seconds left was followed by a 37-yard completion by Beard to Donovan Rinehardt to the Bandys 1. Beard's keeper was stuffed for no gain and the clock ran out, but the Bears were flagged for illegal procedure on the play.

The ball was backed up to the 6, but a Davontaye Wilson run on the half's final play netted only a yard.

The Trojans took advantage out of the break, limiting Bunker Hill to 37 total yards post-halftime while scoring on all four of their third-quarter possessions.

Touchdown runs of 5, 9 and 1-yard by Millsaps and a 20-yard TD throw by Houser to Maxwell Carr blew the game open, giving Bandys a 46-10 advantage.

A 5-yard TD toss by Beard to Dustin Harrill with 1:35 left to play provided the Bears their final points.