Hazen used lockdown defense to top Renton 21-7 in the Highlanders’ homecoming game Friday night.
The Highlanders (6-2 overall, 4-2 Seamount) finish the regular season tied with Lindbergh for second place in the Seamount. Renton (4-5, 3-3) finishes in fourth.
The Indians got on the board very early when Anthony Gold returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. After that, the Hazen defense clamped down and didn’t allow Renton anything else.
Hazen’s offense started slow. The Highlanders didn’t get their initial first down of the game until late in the first quarter, and it came via a Renton penalty.
Hazen did get on the board in the second quarter after a four-yard touchdown run from Eric Jacobs. The Highlanders pushed the ball up the middle with Tray Brown over and over, before finally handing off to Jacobs on the outside.
Renton again failed to get a consistent drive going on offense before the half and the teams were tied 7-7 at the break.
“The offense is really staggering,” said Renton coach Donald Ponds. “We’re sputtering. We just could not get anything going. We can’t rely on kick returns. Our offense has to get in gear.”
Hazen came out in the second half with a clock-crunching drive. The Highlanders asserted their will, running again and again. The drive covered 80 yards and lasted nearly nine minutes before Brown scored from four yards out on fourth and second.
Renton’s biggest loss on the drive was Gold. After being knocked unconscious for several minutes, Gold left the field in an ambulance. Ponds didn’t have an update on his condition immediately after the game.
The Indians finally got a drive working at the beginning of the fourth quarter, only to fumble on Hazen’s 16-yard line. Cody Taylor recovered the ball.
“We had drives that we couldn’t sustain, then we had a critical fumble,” Ponds said.
Hazen then covered 84 yards on a drive taking nearly six minutes off the clock before Taylor scored on a 28-yard rush.
Check back Monday for a full breakdown of the playoff matchups for Renton, Hazen and Lindbergh.
