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No. 3 Hough football makes statement with dominant home win over No. 5 Mallard Creek

Hough High School’s defense has driven the Huskies’ strong start to their 2024 season.

But even Hough head coach DeShawn Baker recognized that the Huskies outdid themselves Friday in a convincing 33-0 homecoming win over visiting Mallard Creek.

The shutout loss ended a 62-game scoring streak for the Mavericks that dated to a 21-0 N.C. Class 4AA state championship loss to Wake Forest in 2017. It also was Mallard Creek’s first regular-season shutout since the school’s inaugural season of 2007.

“That’s a great accomplishment,” said Baker, whose team improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Queen City 3A/4A Conference. “Doughnuts for defense — and I’m buying. Our defensive staff comes in and works hard every week and they had a great game plan for this game.”

Baker’s defensive staff includes defensive assistant head coach Chachi Sullivan, defensive coordinator Steve Williams, linebackers/co-defensive coordinator Jamelle Byrd, defensive backs coach JaVaughn Suber, linebackers coaches Brandon Mobley and Mario Borboa and defensive line coach Marc Nagy.

“They were phenomenal,” Mallard Creek coach Kennedy Tinsley said of Hough’s defense. “They did a great job and we struggled to do much of anything.”

Baker credited all of his defenders for the ball-hawking effort that limited the Mavericks (6-2, 4-1) to 99 yards of total offense, forced two turnovers and tackled Mallard Creek 17 times (out of 44 plays) for losses.

Just as dominating was Hough’s special teams play, featuring senior kicker and punter Kandler Happe.

Happe averaged 48.4 yards on five punts while blasting six touchbacks on his seven kickoffs. Happe also recorded the tackle on the lone kickoff that was returned — a 50-yarder by Mallard Creek’s Nassor Ashenafi — and booted a 22-yard field goal for the game’s first points with 1:03 left in the opening quarter.

“Kandler Happe flipped the field for us all night long,” Baker said. “He was really good.”

Three who made a difference

Trey Blakeney, Hough: Blakeney completed 12 of 19 passes for 124 yards and rushed eight times for 28 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Huskies’ 285-yard offense.

Jamison Funderburk, Hough: Funderburk rushed nine times for 37 yards with two touchdowns and caught two passes for 10 yards.

Kandler Happe, Hough: Happe averaged 48.4 yards on five punts, had six touchbacks on seven kickoffs, converted one field goal and went four-for-four on his extra point kicks.

Notable

▪ Mallard Creek’s punt game struggled mightily as low snaps resulted in a 20-yard loss, a safety and a blocked punt. In all, the Mavericks averaged 23.0 yards on seven punts.

▪ Including Friday’s loss, Mallard Creek has been shut out only six times in school history: three times in their 1-10 inaugural season of 2007; a 27-0 playoff loss to Butler in 2012; a 21-0 state championship loss to Wake Forest in 2017; and Friday’s loss to Hough.

▪ The teams were meeting for the 21st time and have played every year since Hough opened in 2010. Mallard Creek still leads the series, 13-8, but the Huskies have now won six of the past seven meetings. In postseason play, Mallard Creek has won three of their four meetings.