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The New Hampstead football team, as expected, had a new leader of its offense as junior quarterback Rashawn Truell made his first career start Friday night against Windsor Forest.

The Phoenix, however, had an unexpected leader of the program for the game as head coach Kyle Hockman was not with the team because of a “personnel matter,” said NHHS director of athletics Brooke Whitlock. She said she could not comment further on the situation other than that Rick Honaker was the acting head coach.

Honaker, normally the assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator, credited the coaches and players for handling adversity and “a difficult situation” after New Hampstead’s 59-6 season-opening victory over Windsor Forest.

“It was kind of an on-going issue all day,” said Honaker, who did not provide details on the issue. “It was just another thing we had to overcome. If I’m preaching to our kids, I’ve got to be able to do it as well. We found out about midday. Thankfully, Coach Hockman has enough faith in me to be able to run this program.”

Honaker praised Hockman, whom he expects to resume his duties for the next game on Sept. 1 at Bradwell Institute.

“He’s still the leader of New Hampstead football,” Honaker said. “All I know is we’re expecting him to be our guy next week.”

In another team aspect, Truell is expected to be the guy this season after playing a reserve role for two years behind standout quarterback Pauly Seeley, now a freshman at Wofford. A three-year starter who threw for nearly 7,000 total yards on three playoff teams, Seeley last season was voted the Michael Finocchiaro Memorial Outstanding Football Player Award winner as the top high school player in Savannah.

Honaker said Seely was a great leader and role model for Truell.

“I think tonight you saw Rashawn take ownership of this football team,” Honaker said. “He stepped into that leadership role – a calm, cool and collected kid. That’s what he is at practice; a great kid to be around. The guys, as you can tell, really followed and stayed behind him.”

His teammates produced with and for him similar to how a pitcher can get great run support in baseball and softball, making his or her job much easier. 

The Phoenix ran and passed for touchdowns on offense; the defense returned a fumble for a score and nearly did the same with an interception; and the special teams brought a kickoff all the way back immediately after Knights quarterback Izaiyah Cooper scored Windsor Forest’s (0-2) first points of the season on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

Kamari Maxwell had the kickoff return and a 37-yard run for touchdowns. Kameron Blake-Mazes returned a fumble 31 yards for a score, and Xavier Paez nearly had a pick-6, taking an interception 34 yards to within inches of the end zone in the final minutes of the game.

“Our defense played lights out, flying around,” Honaker said. “We preach flying to the football. When we get there, make sure we make the tackle.”

Jamari Bonaparte rushed for the first and last TDs of the contest. Malachi Lonnon caught one of three Truell TD passes, while fellow standout receiver Jaylen Hampton caught two TDs and rushed for a third.

Truell, while not new to the team, as the new starter went a very efficient 11-for-14 for 210 yards. He was 4-for-4 for 81 yards in the first quarter, 3-for-4 for 60 in the second, 1-for-3 for 24 in the third, and 3-for-3 for 45 in the fourth with the clock running.

“We knew we weren’t going to ask him to do too much,” said Honaker, noting their senior-heavy offensive line featuring Alex Kohles and Zach Pearson. “We really have trust in those guys to protect him, and he’s a cool customer in the pocket. We know he’s always going to make the right throw, the right decision.”

Even when Truell had a 28-yard TD pass to Hampton erased by a false-start penalty, he went right back to Hampton on the next play for a now-33-yard scoring toss.

It was that kind of night for the Phoenix, but not for the Knights, who struggled to put together drives and to stop New Hampstead’s passing attack.

“Windsor Forest is a young football team,” Honaker said. “A lot of young guys playing right now, where we’re on the flip side, a veteran football team. We have 22, 24 seniors. All of our juniors from last year are returning starters. So we really have a lot of experience on our side. Right now, they’re going through those growing pains that young teams do.”

NEW HAMPSTEAD 59, WINDSOR FOREST 6

WF | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -- 6

NH | 19 | 27 | 0 | 13 | -- 59

First quarter

NH – Jamari Bonaparte 5 run (Jamal Brown kick)

NH – Malachi Lonnon 27 pass from Rashawn Truell (kick failed)

NH – Kameron Blake-Mazes 31 fumble return (pass failed)

Second quarter

NH – Jaylen Hampton 1 run (Brown kick)

NH – Hampton 25 pass from Truell (Brown kick)

NH – Kamari Maxwell 37 run (kick failed)

WF – Izaiyah Cooper 1 run (kick blocked)

NH – Maxwell kickoff return (Brown kick)

Fourth quarter

NH – Hampton 33 pass from Truell (Brown kick)

NH – Bonaparte 1 run (non-attempt on conversion)

Records—WF 0-2; NH 1-0.

 

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

FINAL SCORES WEEK 1

Aug. 24 (Thursday)

Savannah Christian 56, Islands 14

Savannah Country Day 52, Pinewood Christian 0

Aug. 25 (Friday)

Ware County 28, Richmond Hill 7

Bradwell 26, Liberty County 13

Jenkins 41, Bluffton 30

Benedictine 42, Chambers 9

New Hampstead 59, Windsor Forest a6

Vidalia 61, Beach 0

Brantley County 30, Groves 0

Bryan County 51, Treutlen 0

Richmond Academy 41, Savannah High 0

Bethesda 44, John Paul II 0

Memorial Day 14, Fullington Academy 0

Valwood 50, St. Andrew's 29

Aug. 26 (Saturday)

Burke Co. 10, Effingham County 6

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Dominitz/Special to Prep Sports Report

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