Hot Springs ends season with quarterfinal run

HOT SPRINGS – The Savage Heat season came to an end during the quarterfinals of the six man playoffs Saturday with a loss to Denton/Geyser/Stanton 58-52.

The game was hard fought until the very end when quarterback Tanner Hoff made an uncharacteristic mistake by throwing an interception with 2:41 left in the fourth quarter.

All the Bearcats needed was a first down to end the game. After converting on fourth and short, Hot Springs had no way to stop the clock and time expired for the Savage Heat.

“This was one of the hardest hitting contests since we’ve had our own team here,” Head Coach Jim Lawson said. “They did a good job on defense against us and didn’t let us get out of the pocket like we are used to.”

Lawson thought the Savage Heat had a chance on Hoff’s last throw of the day but the Bearcats read the play perfectly.

“We thought we saw something that was going to work and we had Lane come down the sideline,” Lawson said. “They just made a good play on the ball.”

Foster was open going down the sideline for a short time. Hoff had to throw the ball across the field and the Bearcats were able to make a play on the ball.

From the beginning, the contest appeared to be a high scoring affair. DGS scored within the first two minutes of the game, only to have Hot Springs respond with a 79-yard kick return by junior Anthony Byrns to get things going for the Savage Heat.

Freshman Trevor Paro later added a 60-yard score to respond to DGS touchdown with 5:16 left in the first quarter.

Senior Jimmy Holland then took a 79-yard interception into the end zone for a touchdown. Hot Springs led the Bearcats 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.

To start the second quarter, center Lane Foster would catch a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hoff to put Hot Springs on top 27-14.

The Bearcats fought back into the game by scoring twice in less than a minute as a result of Hot Springs’ turnovers.

Junior Nate Gray did not go down without a fight and made an amazing broken tackle to score to get the Savage Heat a 34-30 lead before allowing DGS to score again.

Jarod White and Hoff would add two more scores for the Savage Heat on the ground to give the Savage Heat a 52-50 lead going into the fourth quarter, but it was not enough.

DGS scored with 9:45 left on the clock giving them a 58-52 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the afternoon.

“We kept waiting for the big play to happen again,” Lawson said. “But they were able to get the pass rush on us and we couldn’t find it.”

The teams showed mutual respect for each other on the field. So much so that the DGS players even helped Gray with a cramp while White was on the sideline being attended to for an injury by the coaching staff.

“That was really good sportsmanship out there,” Lawson said. “There is definitely a lot respect between two hard hitting teams and it was a hard fought game.”

Lawson said DGS did a great job limiting their offense and getting after the quarterback.

DGS Head Coach Scott Sparks called Hoff the best quarterback he had ever coached against in his entire head coaching career. The junior quarterback did all he could to beat the Bearcats.

Both teams can thank their defenses for keeping what appeared to be a high scoring affair reasonably low.

“We made some stops on defense at the end there,” Lawson said. “But we couldn’t get our offense to execute because of how well their defense was playing.”

This marks Hot Springs third trip to the quarterfinals in the past three seasons. The Savage Heat were defending state champions, but now look to bounce back next season.

Hoff said he was ready to hit the weight room that afternoon and start preparing for next season.

Coach Lawson was proud of his team. Lawson said his senior had nothing to be ashamed of and that they had one state title under their belts and it was something they could be proud of.

The beaten and bruised Savage Heat walked off the field with their heads held high, even in a losing effort.