Honaker, Hurley battle for the Black Diamond District lead

The favorite to win the Black Diamond District will most likely be the winner of this game.

A win tonight actually would give Honaker its 12th Black Diamond District title in school history and its first since 2015. However, if Hurley were able to knock the Tigers off tonight at Fuller Field, the Rebels would be in the driver’s seat for the rest of the season.

Hurley continued Austin Cooper’s impressive first year with a 47-0 shutout over Northwood last week at The Cliff. Matt Blankenship led the Rebels with 111 rushing yards on the ground. Blankenship was also a mammoth on defense for Hurley with eight tackles and two sacks. Dustin Stinson, Matt Justice, Alex Duty, John Matt Justus and Tyler Young all found the end zone via Hurley’s rushing attack that racked up 300 yards of the Rebels 317 yards of offense. The Hurley defense held a struggling Northwood squad to 47 yards in addition to having two interceptions returned for touchdowns via Channing Estep and Dylan Hall.

On the other end of the spectrum last week, Honaker took a thrashing in Norton at the hands of the J.I. Burton Raiders in a 54-7 contest. Trevor Dye scored the Tigers lone touchdown in the first quarter. Dye finished with 112 yards on the ground to pace the Honaker offense. The Honaker defense allowed the powerful Raiders offense to amass 574 yards of offense last Friday. There is no doubt that Doug Hubbard will have his squad refocused with gold on the line at home this Friday night.

Friday night marks the 42nd meeting between Honaker and Hurley. Dating back to 1961, Honaker holds the edge in the series, 33-8. The Tigers won in dominant fashion a year ago at The Cliff by a score of 39-0.