Comeback falls short for Hickman football team

Hickman didn't make any big changes after halftime of Saturday's football game. But after trailing Fort Zumwalt West 21-3 entering the break, the Kewpies returned to the field and scored five touchdowns in the second half.

“We just came out an executed better in the second half,” Hickman assistant coach Chad Masters said. “No kind of magic adjustment. Our kids executed their game plans better. Not a lot different.”

Hickman’s offensive revival wasn’t enough to win its first district game, though. The Kewpies fell 42-38 to the Jaguars.

Hickman (3-5, 0-1) scored four times in the third quarter to take a 31-21 lead, but Fort Zumwalt West scored twice to move back ahead 35-31. Then the Kewpies scored on a drive of nearly 80 yards to retake the lead 38-35.

“You take your points when you can get them,” Masters said. “If you score quick, that’s great. If you take time and score as the clock runs out, that’s great too. We just had to play defense.”

The Jaguars scored their final touchdown on a fourth-and-13 play, leaving less than one minute for Hickman’s final offensive series. Kewpies quarterback Matt Herman was unable to find an open receiver as time expired.

“We were just trying to get down there,” Masters said. “They knew we had to take our shots and make our kids make some plays on it. Their kids did some good jobs defending it. All our kids gave a good effort, and it just didn’t come up for us. The ball just rolled that way that time.”

The loss hurts Hickman’s chances of advancing to the playoffs.

“It puts a little more pressure on us,” Masters said. “It was our goal to win all three of our games. This doesn’t give us much wiggle room. To advance, we gotta win the next two.”

The Kewpies play Troy-Buchanan at 7 p.m next Friday at home.