Huskies show spirit in defeat
MAYNARD -- The outcome was as expected.
The moment was better than anticipated.
Junior Nick Henderson scored Cedar Valley Christian's first touchdown in school history on a 43-yard pass play midway through the fourth quarter Friday night at West Central High School. It was the highlight of the Huskies' first football game, a 62-8 rout at the hands of highly-regarded West Central.
"That's a morale booster all the way around," Cedar Valley Christian Coach Ed Betsworth said of the scoring play. "It shows that if we don't quit -- and that's what I emphasized on the bus on the way up -- that good things will happen. I think we're going to take to heart that we scored against a good team. It's going to make us feel that we can compete."
Henderson hauled in the pass from junior Arturo Melendez at the West Central 30. A Blue Devils defensive back wrapped up on his right leg, but he kept moving forward, shucked the tackler and sprinted to paydirt.
"I just caught it and kept on pumping my legs," said Henderson, playing his first game of organized football.
Cedar Valley Christian had a crowd of more than 100 fans along that went wild after the touchdown. The West Central fans also cheered the Huskies.
Betsworth heaped praise upon his team in the post-game huddle, praising them for their effort and never-say-die attitude. He also beckoned the Cedar Valley Christian cheering section onto the field to join his players in a mass group huddle after his initial words to his team to share his thoughts about the game and to ask for the players and the fans to offer their input. It was all positive, even if the word "creamed" did get tossed in a couple of times.
"I'll tell you what I'm proud of," Principal Jeff Pospisil told the throng, "even when we were getting creamed, we never gave up."
Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 August 2011 19:15