2023 Football Season Review

The dream season in Heyworth officially ended this past Saturday, as they suffered a tough loss to Calhoun/Brussels 42-14. The Hornets took a 14-13 lead late in the 2nd quarter when senior Tyler Wills made another great catch for his second touchdown of the game which gave the Hornets some momentum. Unfortunately for the Hornets, Calhoun took a punt return to the 2-yard line, which led to the Warriors taking a 21-14 lead at halftime. The strong run game of Calhoun continued in the 2nd half as they outscored the Hornets 21-0 in the 2nd half to secure their spot into the second round. Calhoun’s Chris Stanley rushed for 126 yards on just 6 carries, and Conner Longnecker’s tough running style will give the Warriors a legit shot at pulling off the upset over one-seeded Camp Point Central. The Hornets had some moments of hope during the game but in the end, they ran out of steam. This is just the beginning of a resurgence of Heyworth football, something that this town desperately needed. The players will tell you that the season didn’t end how they wanted it to, but that doesn't mean this wasn’t an amazing season. If you told anybody before the season that the Hornets would have won 7 games, hosted a playoff game, given us playoff gear, made lifetime memories, and ultimately given a senior class who has seen only struggles a year they will never forget, they would’ve called you insane.

This week we interviewed Coach Albaugh to hear his thoughts on the season overall. The gameplan was a little bit different this week, as Calhoun had pitched 4 straight shutouts so they knew they had to pass the ball. But what hurt the most in this game was stopping the counter. “We were fortunate to stop the sweep, but #13 (Chris Stanley) was just a little too much for us on the counter”. But despite the game this season was one not to be disappointed in and brought many great memories including some core moments. “We had a lot of great moments this year, my favorite being the feeling after beating Dee Mack when we realized we might have actually turned the page around”. That feeling stayed around most of the year all the way until the end and this was a feeling that most of these players have never experienced before this year. I would like to congratulate Coach Albaugh on the great year but he knows and the team knows that this is only the beginning to reshaping the program. I would like to thank all the coaches: Coach Sheppard, Coach Brown, Coach Esposito, Coach Girard, Coach Nealy, and Coach Albaugh for this amazing season and giving the town of Heyworth hope for football for the first time in what feels like forever.

The five seniors who played their last football game on Saturday were Chris Gould, Gage Gebur, Devyn Porzelius, Cooper Johnson, and Tyler Wills. The impact these boys have made for the program is unmatched and honestly, they couldn’t have asked for a better season. They have proven everybody in the conference wrong and surprised the entire town of Heyworth. When they entered the school as a freshman, they saw a 1 win team during COVID. Then came the sophomore year, and despite having athletes they saw another 1 win team. Last year as juniors, a lot of hope arose in Heyworth but yet again the same result of winning 1 actual game. Coming into this year, everyone thought this would be just another Heyworth team and many people had the same expectations. The Hornets worked hard during the summer thanks to the seniors having a chip on their shoulder, something we have not seen in the last 10 years in Heyworth. Hard work and dedication can lead to a lot and it showed this year. After 3 wins in 3 years, the Hornets had elapsed an unthinkable 7 win season. Though the playoff game didn’t end the way the boys wanted it to, the fact that they were in that position shows how far the team has gotten. The leadership that these boys brought to the team is something that we hope to continue to see in Heyworth football teams as the years go on. A standard has been set in Heyworth.