Hot Springs continues to roll in the playoffs

HOT SPRINGS –The Savage Heat continued to beat up on the competition, winning Saturday’s opening round play off match 62-22 over Roy/Winifred at home.

The Savage Heat offense got off to an uncharacteristically slow start on the afternoon. They scored early in the first quarter and did not score again until there were 33 seconds left in the quarter. The 14 points in the quarter were the fewest put up by Hot Springs over the past four games.

Freshman Trevor Paro had stepped it up over the past few weeks and has scored in droves. The freshman has had multi-touchdown games over the past several weeks.

Paro has been a great compliment to running back Jarod White who has had less pressure on him due to the outstanding play of the freshman. White showed his big play ability several times on the afternoon. His broken tackles for the Savage Heat lifted their offense. The shifty senior has played a pivotal role in the Savage Heat’s playoff push.

The rainy conditions gave Hot Springs an advantage over their opponents. The Savage Heat seemed ready for the wet conditions.

“I don’t think the rain really effected us much,” Head Coach Jim Lawson said. “That’s playoff football, you just have to go with the field conditions.”

Hot Springs was not used to the three-man rush from the defense which accounted for the slow start.

“We had to make our adjustments to their defense,” Lawson said. “They were able to put pressure on Tanner (Hoff). I think it was the first time he had been sacked all season.”

Not only was it the first time he had been sacked all season, Hoff also threw his first interception of the season. The interception, however, actually benefited Hot Springs as opposed to an incomplete pass. Had the pass been broken up Roy/Winifred would have taken over possession near midfield instead of on the 10-yard line.

“Tanner is a perfectionist,” Lawson said. “I had to tell him it was as good as a punt. When you play quarterback, you have to have a short memory and he certainly knows how to recover from mistakes.”

Hoff was also a playmaker on defense. He picked off two passes in the first half. He was helped by teammates Lane Foster and Nate Gray who also added interceptions for the Savage Heat.

The defense had made key adjustments for the Savage Heat to go up against the spread offense Roy/Winifred threw at them.

“We had to drop one of our pass rushers into coverage when they were beating us in the flat,” Lawson said. “After we switched, our defensive coverage was a lot better, but we lost a bit on the pass rush.”

Despite not being able to bring two defenders after the quarterback, Hot Springs defense still managed to put pressure on the hurler for Roy/Winifred. It was the pressure from the pass rush that caused the four interceptions on the afternoon.

Coach Lawson and his bunch hope to keep the ball rolling next week at home as they take Stanford/Geyser/Denton.