Stellar Whitehall-Yearling Quarterback play ends Hamilton-Township’s Season
By: Charlie Lusk
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WHITEHALL, Ohio (WOUB)– “It’s always hard to beat a team twice,” that is a mantra that Whitehall-Yearling proved once again against rivals Hamilton-Township. In a rematch of their week one meeting that was decided by just one point, the Hamilton Township Rangers (7-4) traveled to face th Whitehall-Yearling Rams (8-2). The Rams got their revenge from their previous two meetings, taking the contest 33 to 7.
Whitehall on their first drive made quick work of the Hamilton-Township defense. Senior quarterback Malachi Jackson drove the Rams down the field in the first three minutes. Jackson capped off the drive with a 15-yard strike to Zymeer Giles into the endzone.
Hamilton-Township’s offense responded in an opposite manner to reach the endzone. In typical Ranger fashion, the Wing-T rushing attack gained several four-yard gains at a time, draining the clock and moving the chains. Lance Reynolds and Dez Branch both picked up big rushes before Suge Brown on the Ram’s two-yard line punched it in the endzone to cap off a seven-minute drive.
That drive was the last time the Rangers saw the endzone.
Rams signal-caller Malachi Jackson continued to cause problems for the Rangers through the air and on the ground. Within two minutes, Jackson found receiver Nathaniel Jenkins to get Whitehall inside the red zone before running it in on a read-option.
After Whitehall forced the first stop of the game, Jackson repeated the process. After dancing around in the backfield, Malachi Jackson launched a prayer to Jaiden Brown, who got the grab over two Hamilton-Township defenders to get back into the red zone. Once again, Jackson on a QB keeper found the inside of the end zone to extend the lead to 20 to 7. Jackson ended the night with three rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown.
The Rangers failed to get anything else on offense after their first drive. A Hamilton-Township fumble returned the other way for six spelled doom for the Rangers.
The Rams took that momentum on both sides of the ball to the tune of a 33 to 7 victory.
Hamilton-Township outdid Whitehall-Yearling, delivering heartbreak in week one, which head coach Cameron Barker spoke about when talking about his team’s resilience. “I mean, you go in, you lost to a team [week one], you’ve got the things from week one that you’re still thinking about. But being able to be guys that can forget things and understand that week 11 is different from week one, that is something I can give all my boys.”
A great season that saw Hamilton-Township win a share of their conference for the first time since 2023 ends at the end of the Rams. Whitehall-Yearling’s playoff campaign continues next week, when they travel to play last year’s Division Three state champions Bishop Waterson.