HAMILTON — Toby Young made a beeline for the fence.
The Hamilton High School senior had just worked his way through the post-game handshake line and didn’t want to waste another second, so he sprinted toward his team’s sideline. When he spotted the poles with the blue flags, Young picked the one he wanted and set out on another sprint.
As Young moved from right to left, the flag unfurled and revealed a “G4.” With teammate Grant Thompson holding a “HHS” flag behind him, the move was a fitting tribute to former teammate Gavin Thomas Toler after a hard night’s work.
Young’s safety in the third quarter and a defensive stand in the waning seconds proved to be the difference in the Hamilton High football team’s 14-12 victory against West Lowndes in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 1A, Region 3 game at Jimmie Moore Field.
“That is incredible,” Young said. “I am just glad to play this game.”
Young was still catching his breath near midfield after running the length of his team’s sideline. As he talked, the pole rested on his left shoulder pad and Toler’s No. 4 hung down behind him. The senior transfer from Heritage Academy in Columbus talked about how Hamilton is still dealing with the loss of Toler, who died Wednesday, July 19, as the result of an automobile accident in Clarke County. The accident also claimed the life of his grandparents, Robert Earl “Rusty” and Tyla Toler while the family was en route to the coast.
Young said it has been hard for the Lions to move on after losing Toler, who was a sophomore quarterback. He likened it to losing your equilibrium and needing time to regain your balance and direction. But the running back/linebacker feels the team is coming together and building a stronger bond in part due to its desire to honor and to play for Toler.
Young said he felt that motivation late in the game as he tried to make one more play. Earlier in the game, Young read the snap count and fired in from the right side to corral punter Jherquaveus Sanders in the end zone for a safety.
But Young’s best work might have come on the final series. Young nearly forced a game-clinching fumble on quarterback Jherquaveus Sanders, but West Lowndes maintained possession and kept driving in the final minute. On second down at the Hamilton 31-yard line, Young pressured Sanders on a pass attempt.
In between plays, Young looked to his right and waved his arms to the crowd to encourage the fans to make noise.
On third down, he hit Sanders right after he released the football and knocked him to the ground. On fourth down, Young blitzed and broke through the line again to pressure Sanders, who appeared to be still feeling the effects from the hit he took on third down.
“I was kind of frustrated (I wasn’t able to get him),” Young said. “But we have made plays behind me, so I am just glad we had teammates behind me to make plays.”
Young credited the defense for rising to the occasion in the second quarter to stop West Lowndes after it had a first-and-goal at the Hamilton 4. The Panthers lost 4 yards on their next three plays before Sanders was stopped 4 yards short of the goal line on fourth down.
Young said he used Toler’s presence as motivation for an extra source of energy in that sequence and in the final minute.
“I just looked to the sky and I was like, ‘Playing for you, buddy’ and made the play,” Young said. “I know he is looking after us and playing with us. We just have to drive through and, hopefully, get to the playoffs.”
After the game, Hamilton High football coach Josh Baty smiled and said he wished the far side official had spotted the football at the one-inch line on the safety call so the Lions could have had a chance to score a touchdown. Even though neither Young nor Baty thought the safety would be the difference, it turned out to be the final margin thanks to a stingy defensive effort by the Lions.
“We’re going to keep on honoring Gavin,” Baty said. “These kids loved that kid, and he loved this team. We’re going to play hard, and we have played hard each week. I think a main thing about that is it is for him.
“It is horrible that that has to be something that motivates you, but it has been a great motivator for these kids because they have learned life is short and to take advantage of things that are in front of you and don’t let them pass you by.”
West Lowndes had another chance after it limited Hamilton to one first down and then forced it to punt with 2:24 to go. The Panthers caught a break when the kick appeared to go off the side of the punter’s foot and didn’t get a good roll and stopped at the 50.
Sanders kept the drive alive on fourth-and-2 with a run up the middle. The Panthers caught another break because Young stripped the ball from Sanders’ right arm. Still, West Lowndes recovered with 41 seconds remaining and had a first down. Four incompletions later, Hamilton finally had time to celebrate.
The win helped Hamilton (2-3, 1-1 region) equal its win total from last season. Hamilton will travel to Louisville next week to take on regional rival Noxapater with a chance to match its win total from the last two seasons combined.
Following the game, Baty praised the players and told them they had “finally become a football team because they didn’t quit.” He said there were times Friday night — like when it failed to recover a fumble deep in its territory that allowed West Lowndes to score a touchdown two plays later — previous Hamilton teams might have folded.
“There are still a lot of things we have to clean up, but what I am proud of is they didn’t quit,” Baty said. “They would have quit in the past, and that shows me they are a different team. We can fix fumbles and things like that, but I can’t fix effort. That is on them. They have turned around and fixed that.”
Baty was even prouder because the win came on the heels of a 53-6 loss to Nanih Waiya last week. Baty said Nanih Waiya is “the best football team I have ever coached against” and admitted he wondered how his players would react from the loss.
After losing to the Panthers 42-0 and 36-7 the last two seasons, the urge to give in could have been even stronger. Instead, the Lions regrouped from Sanders’ second-effort score with 11 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the game and stood their ground.
“It kind of gives me shivers,” Young said as he thought about the victory and receiving inspiration from Toler. “We are just missing him. It is crazy.”
Senior running back Quinshawn Lucious led the Panthers (1-3, 0-2) with 93 yards rushing. Sanders rushed for 73 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown. Travion Lucious added a 2-yard touchdown, but the Panthers couldn’t come up with one more big play on a night in which they ran for 220 yards (44 carries).
“We are just so young,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We are young on the offensive line. We have a sophomore quarterback who is playing great. We are small and very undersized, but the guys played hard. We just don’t have enough.”
King said he liked the effort West Lowndes has given in losses to Leake County (12-8) and to Hamilton. Unfortunately, the inability to make one more play leaves the Panthers at 0-2 in a region with perennial powers Nanih Waiya, Noxapater, and French Camp Academy, so it will be an uphill climb the rest of the way.
“It is going to be a building year,” King said. “We know we have young offensive linemen growing with a sophomore quarterback. The quarterback is a very good athlete who is making good plays, but you have to go through the process with him. … It is going to be a learning process this year.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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