Menu
Hayti Indians dominate rushing game and cruise to big win over Thayer Bobcats
| If there were any lingering questions about the 2017 Hayti Indians being able to score touchdowns, then Friday night’s route of the fifth-ranked Thayer Bobcats answered those concerns – and more. Not only did the offense produce big numbers, but the Indians’ defense took care of business as well, completely shutting down Thayer’s high-flying offense in the second half of the game. As the final seconds of the fourth quarter ticked away, Hayti would give new head coach Dominique Robinson his first win, a decisive 56-14 drubbing of the Bobcats. | One of the big storylines for the Indians in this huge season-opening win was their north and south speed. Ivory Winters, a 2016 All-State defensive end, electrified Hayti’s offensive with explosive sprints toward the end zone. Winters finished the night with 229 rushing yards on 11 carries. Helping his own cause, Winters also hauled in three passes for 27 yards. Another shifty speedster on Hayti’s roster is senior Deva’nte Robinson, who was up to his old tricks again, piling up a solid 123 yards on ground. Hayti’s rushing stats were impressive – 50 carries for 451 yards. |
When asked about his team’s speed and impressive ground game, Dominque Robinson was quick to credit his ball carriers. “The guys worked hard this summer, and I give all that to them. They put the time in, and they got bigger, stronger, faster; we saw the results from that tonight,” he said. “They got the ball and did some great things tonight. I can’t take credit for that. I just wanted to get my athletes the ball, and they did what they were supposed to do with it.”
Thayer received the opening kickoff and commenced their offensive struggles with a botched first drive. Hayti defensive back Jaishaud Moore broke up a third-and-long pass from Bobcat quarterback Ayden Stone, forcing Thayer to turn the ball over on downs. The Indians’ opening possession was productive, as Hayti drove 54 yards for the score. On a fourth-and-5 with the threat of the drive stalling, Hayti quarterback Chrivontae Moore found junior Tylor Wooden for a 31-yard touchdown pass, giving the Indians a 6-0 lead at the 8:33 mark of the first quarter. However, Wooden’s extra point attempt missed the uprights. Wooden finished the night 2 of 3 on PATs.
| The Bobcats’ ensuing drive proved to be another dismal one as the Indians’ defense shut down Thayer’s offensive for the second time in the quarter. Chrivontae Moore swatted a third-and-10 pass to force Thayer to a lousy fourth-and-10 situation. The Bobcats elected to punt. |
After gaining possession of the football, Hayti wasted little time and began moving the ball up the field again. Despite a couple of yellows thrown against them early in the drive, Hayti managed to recover and put together an impressive scoring drive, capped off with an Ivory Winters’ sweep right for a 50-yard touchdown gallop. With six minutes, eight seconds showing on the clock, Deva’nte Robinson found pay dirt for the 2-point conversion, giving the Indians a 14-0 advantage with 6:08 remaining in the first period.
On Hayti’s next possession, Ivory Winters made a rare mistake and fumbled the football. Thayer recovered and took over in Hayti territory. The Bobcats’ workhorse, senior Garrett Young, buried his way through the Indian defense for a 27-yard run to the end zone, cutting the Hayti lead to 14-6 at the 3:27 mark in the first period.
Going back to work immediately, the Indians engineered another scoring drove on their ensuing possession. Getting his hands on the ball again, Ivory Winters sprinted for a 22-yard Hayti gain to the 2-yard line. The very next play Winters took the snap from center Dakota Morgan and burst across the goal line for another Indian TD. Winters attempted the 2-point conversion with a blast up the middle and was successful, giving Hayti a 22-6 first-quarter lead.
Hayti squashed Thayer’s final drive of the quarter, highlighted by a punishing hit from senior DB Deva’nte Robinson. Also in on the action was 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore linebacker Adreian Stevenson, who pressured Bobcat signal-caller Ayden Stone, stripping the ball to the ground and ending the quarter. Stevenson, along with 6-foot-1, 205-pound defensive lineman Norshawn McIntyre, made life most miserable for the Thayer offense much of the night.
Coach Robinson was asked to comment on the performance of Stevenson, McIntyre and the entire Indian defensive unit. “That was just dedication in the weight room. I told those guys, ‘If y’all want to play for me, you got to get in the weight room,’ ” he said. “… Those guys (Stevenson and McIntyre) haven’t missed a day all summer, and those were the results. They got bigger, faster, stronger – working on their craft.”
The second quarter proved to be Hayti’s least productive, offensively, as the offense line struggled at times. Defensively, the Indians sputtered on a late-period, 94-yard drive, culminating in the Bobcats’ second touchdown of the contest. Thayer’s Garrett Young once again flexed some muscle as he hauled in a 24-yard touchdown reception. Stone put an exclamation point on the score with a 2-point conversion, closing the gap to only an 8-point Hayti lead, 22-14, with 2:10 showing on the scoreboard. The Bobcats collected eight first downs on their march down the field.
Coach Robinson commented on the Indians’ lackluster second-quarter performance, particularly regarding Thayer’s signal-caller, Ayden Stone, finding the flats on numerous occasions. “We did have some subs in there, and we did get a lot of fresh guys in there,” he said. “We are going to clean that [leaving the flats open] up this week. When you’re playing a great team like Thayer, you’ve got to be on your Ps and Qs from the first team to the second team. When we’re subbing like that, all our guys have to be on the same page.”
Before the first half concluded, Ivory Winters picked up a Thayer fumble and dashed 28 yards across the goal line for another Hayti TD, giving the Indians a 30-14 lead going into the locker room.
As for the struggles his offensive line encountered in the second quarter, Robinson said, “A lot of those issues had to do with our trying to get our identity as a unit,” he said. “In the second half, I just started leaning on our big guys, and we ran it down their mouth. A lot of those [miscues] was me being the new head coach and learning every day and getting better, but our [offensive line] did what they were supposed to do.”
If it could even be said that the Indians struggled in the second quarter, then it can safely be said those struggles ended in the second half. Hayti took full control of the game, shutting down the Thayer offense completely and putting up 26 second-half points. Winters scored two more times, once on a 5-yard run and again from 65 yards out. Chrivontae Moore scored for the Indians as did L’Darrius McIntyre on an impressive 33-yard run from scrimmage with only 1:60 showing on the game’s now turbo clock.
“We stayed together tonight – being a team and not staying down,” said Coach Robinson as he concluded his post-game interview. “We also seized the moments when we had them. We made a mistake early with a fumble, but we got the ball back and made a play. Let me say this also. When you have a horse like Ivory Winters, you’ve got to give him the ball.”
Thayer finished the game with a total of 199 yards and 11 first downs, eight of which came in one second-quarter drive. Hayti’s total yardage was 519, including 101 through the air. The Indians racked up 22 first downs in the victory. Wooden finished with 37 yards on the ground while Moore had 27. Robinson caught two passes for 10 yards.
This week, Hayti travels north to take on the Charleston Blue Jays at 7 p.m. Friday night.