Manning, Ross Lead A Dominate Hammond Defense Over Porter-Gaud

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>COLUMBIA |</strong>&nbsp;There is a strong case that playing defense for Hammond is a fun situation to find yourself in. After watching what [player_tooltip player_id='1550897' first='Hugh' last='Manning'] [player_tooltip player_id='1603691' first='Jackson' last='Ross'] and [player_tooltip player_id='763831' first='John' last='Stokes'] and the remaining Skyhawks did to Porter-Gaud Friday night, it potentially could be the best act in SCISA.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Manning, Ross and [player_tooltip player_id='1816468' first='Leyton' last='LaMotte'] scored first half defensive touchdowns and set up two other short drives by the offense to spearhead a 42-7 victory over the Cyclones that had a running clock in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oh and did we mention Porter-Gaud had 37 yards of total offense. That included a negative 20 yards rushing on 15 attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>&nbsp;“We have a lot of older guys coming back so our leadership has been key. Everyone is stepping up in practice and going hard every day,” Manning said. “We just want to have fun and get after it and it's worked out well so far.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There were times when Hammond looked like they had 15 defenders on defense. The Porter-Guard offensive front never had an answer. The Cyclones had 26 yards at the half and only got two offensive series in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We locked in this week and that performance was based on the way the kids practiced,” Hammond coach Jon Wheeler said. “That offense does so much stuff so I'm proud of our guys for holding them at bay and scoring on defense.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The teams traded punts to open the game before Manning (pictured above) made the first big play for the defense. He partially blocked a punt that allowed the Skyhawks to take over on the P-G 19-yard line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Five plays later, [player_tooltip player_id='1818972' first='Jackson' last='Farmer'] reached over a defender to bring in a 13-yard scoring toss from [player_tooltip player_id='1647349' first='Cade' last='Amell'] that made it 7-0 with 5:49 remaining in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It took all of 21 seconds for Hammond to strike again. A fumbled exchange in the backfield was scooped up by Manning and returned 27 yards for the score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The next two scores could have been the decisive blows. First, Manning forced a fumble that LaMotte picked up, and he also returned it for a 27-yard score. On the next offensive play for Porter-Gaud, Ross got in on the fun when he picked off a pass and returned it 21 yards for the score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Those two scores came just 10 seconds apart.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I actually thought about jumping on the ball just to get it back for the offense, but I saw my chance and I took it,” LaMotte said. “It's nice to help the offense out like that. It's so much fun playing on this defense with my guys.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And for good measure, Manning and Ross tackled the Cyclones punter for a 15-yard loss after he bobbled the snap, giving Hammond the ball at the P-G 5-yard line. Two plays later, Amell connected with [player_tooltip player_id='1820505' first='Wham' last='Walker'] for the score and a 35-0 halftime lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cyclones never crossed midfield in the first half and ended up with one first down and 26 yards in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I have the most fun playing on this defense,” Stokes said. “We were getting after it. Our defense is the best. We beat people up and that's just fun. We have a standard and we want to be perfect.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's look at the other players on the Skyhawk defense. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1816478' first='Toona' last='Washington'] is a big play waiting to happen coming off the edge. Defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1817777' first='Henry' last='Kaneft'] holds his own in the middle, allowing the linebackers and edge guys to overpower their opponents almost at will.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1817533' first='Andrew' last='Dennis'] lines up all over the field and brings an intensity to match the rest of the guys up from. Dennis will line up close to the line of scrimmage, but he can also drop back in coverage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The secondary was rarely tested because quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1817934' first='Cam' last='Werntz'] rarely had time to throw the ball. Kaiden Kennedy-Banks and [player_tooltip player_id='1820506' first='Kayden' last='Proctor-Bates'] are both long and lean and play well in man coverage. Dre Bethea [player_tooltip player_id='1816426' first='McLean' last='Robinson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1820221' first='Chase' last='White'] round out the starters. They all play well on the back end.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Skyhawks offense wasn't asked to do much and ended with just 160 total yards. Mikel Corrbett added a four-yard TD run that capped a 15-play, 72-yard drive that consumed much of the second half clock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1816165' first='Blaze' last='Barnes'] finished with 72 yards on 12 carries and ran between the tackles well. He rarely went down on first contact and was fast and strong enough to break outside for big gains.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Porter-Gaud scored its only touchdown in the third quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='2163986' first='Amir' last='Chisolm'] recovered a fumble that gave the Cyclones the ball on the Hammond 18-yard line. Chisolm then powered in from the one-yard line to help them avoid the shutout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chisom caught five passes for 32 yards and added five yards rushing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1820730' first='Daven' last='Brown'] was able to return to the Cyclones attack after not playing since early in week one due to an injury. He made some plays defensively and will factor in more as the season goes on.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":2404899,"_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Layton LaMotte","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2027","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'9u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"175","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"field_65b288425ecf6","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"2495","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Hammond","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6aae0512a806f"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The Skyhawks have plenty of standouts on the defense but Lamotte is one of the unsung defenders that does the dirty work without the fanfare of some of his more highly recruited teammates. But he plays on special teams and is one of the more aggressive players on a defense that has many.<br><br>He plays sound fundamentally and seems to be around the football on many occasions. He was rewarded with his 27=yard fumble return for a score. That's his second career defensive touchdown. He also had a scoop and score last season.<br><br>Lamotte is gritty and fights through blocks well. He never quits on a play and that type of mentality rubs off on the entire defense. <br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->