The football season has officially started in with the NFL and Mission Trails League, both having their opening week’s kickoff over the weekend. Although Stuart Hall is very talented, we play in the Mission Trails League and not the NFL. The Hall started the season off against division rival Pinewood at Boxer Stadium, last Saturday. Stuart Hall won by a score of 44-34 with 22 unanswered points to end the game. While The Hall did get the win, the team’s spotty  performance made the game closer than it needed to be.

Team Grades

Offense: B+

The offense started off slowly with some missed blocks by the offensive line and touchdowns dropped by open receivers. Another mistake made by the offense was unneeded penalties on big plays. Three touchdowns were called back for holding and illegal blocks away from the play. In the second half however the blocking came together and quarterback Jorim Powell ‘18 finally started connecting with his receivers.

Defense: C

The defense for Stuart Hall was a mixed bag, Pinewood scored 20 first half points with 14 coming on deep passes. The Hall’s pass rush was good considering that starting defensive tackle Kelvon Golson ’18 was sidelined with a foot injury. Even though Pinewood finished the game with over 100 yards rushing, the defensive line totaled 7 sacks throughout the game.

Special Teams: B

Just like the offense and defense the special teams was mixed with some good and some bad. The Hall only had to punt twice, but one of those punts was blocked and recovered in the end zone for a touchdown by Pinewood. On kickoffs, Stuart Hall allowed two returns of 30+ yards but did recover one kickoff on a dropped kick by Pinewood. For kick returns The Hall could not get anything going, because Pinewoods kickers kept on kicking touchbacks.

This Saturday, September 19th, The Hall will take on last year’s champion who handed The Hall their only loss, Trinity Christian, at Monterey High School’s football field.