Christian Liberty hit hard at home

Senior Josh Hoffman smiled about the missed opportunity where freshman Shawn Anderson made a statement about Christian Liberty's novice football program.

The 47-0 outcome of Friday afternoon's home opener and Northeastern Ahletic Conference game had long been in Hope Academy's favor when Christian Liberty punted with less than two minutes left.

Anderson raced down and hammered the return man for no gain as Hoffman came in to offer congratulations.

"I'm glad he hit him - I wanted to, too," Hoffman, a wingback and defensive back, said with a smile. "That was a freshman taking responsibility and his potential and he used it. He let loose."

And losing their first 2 games by a combined score of 110-0 isn't going to dampen the enthusiasm of a program in its second season and first as an official IHSA member.

"We have to play our hardest every game without giving up and look for the best," Hoffman said. "We're small players and every person on that (Hope) team is huge."

The Eagles (2-0, 2-0) were also coming off a playoff berth and raced to a 40-0 halftime lead with a 33-point second quarter. Adrian Hurst (5 carries, 102 yards), Edward Daniels (11 for 105 yards) and Darrin Phillips each scored 2 touchdowns.

But the focus for the Chargers (0-2, 0-2) are the positives in what assistant coach Ken Johnson told former Conant boss John Ayres at halftime is a season of "baby steps."

David Sotomayor had a nice 25-yard run early in the second half to get the Chargers into positive yardage. Two-way lineman Will Garcia and Zach Cavanaugh had stops for losses and senior Dan "Drywall" Calloway was part of an improved offensive line from last week.

Freshman quarterback Dan Glad got another game of experience in a job which is now his since senior Nathan Elleson's family moved to Florida. And Kaulkins liked the improved second-half aggressiveness of defensive tackles Steve Koch and Nate Cavanaugh.

"As coaches we're making sure to keep the enthusiausm up," Kaulkins said after Hope had a 384-22 advantage in total yards.

But that doesn't appear as if it will be an issue.

"We've got people with hidden potential and we're all ready to use it," Hoffman said. "From last year we've definitely come a long way."