By Terry Foster
WHMI.com
Hartland’s 36-21 victory over Brighton (2-2) wasn’t about heart, passion and determination although the Eagles showed plenty of heart, passion and determination in rolling by the Bulldogs.
It wasn’t about ending an agonizing 10-game losing streak to Brighton although the Eagles ended an agonizing 10-game losing streak to Brighton.
This evening of domination and determination was about taking another step to becoming the best team in Livingston County, which the Eagles (3-1) believe will lead them to a KLAA title.
The Eagles are on a roll after an opening-season 28-0 non-league loss to Oxford. Since then, Hartland has scorched opponents 148-21 and soared to the top of the KLAA (3-0) half-game ahead of Howell (4-0 overall, 2-0 in the KLAA).
If both teams win next week that sets up a possible winner take all contest Oct. 2 contest at Howell where the Highlanders own a seven-game regular season home winning streak. Howell is also the two-time defending KLAA champion and has won 24 of its last 27 games.
“Honestly, I believe we are the best team in the KLAA,” said Hartland defensive end Michael Horton. “I think we have to prepare for Howell. I hear they are pretty good, but I think we’ve got that in the bank.”
Horton is an all-league player everybody must deal with. He played with passion and high spirits against Brighton, recording four quarterback sacks.
“Tonight he played like an all-league player,” Hartland coach Aaron Metz said. “Sometimes we didn’t get there but we knew Michael could win some one-on-one matchups.”
A critical spot in this game came near the end of the second quarter. Brighton scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dom D’Agosta to Quincy Grignon with1:25 remaining to trim Harland’s lead to 21-14.
Hartland fired back when quarterback Nolan Morrish hit running back Nic Honeycutt (135 yards rushing on 28 carries) for an eight-yard touchdown with 0:02 remaining in the half.
That went a long way in ending the 10-game losing streak to Brighton.
“We don’t care who we play,” Metz said. “Yeah, it feels good to beat Brighton. That’s what we want to do to take one step closer to being the best team in Livingston County.”
The bottom line in this game is Brighton made too many mistakes and didn’t appear to want this game as badly as Hartland.
The Bulldogs also could not get a consistent running game. Their bell cow Dom Nauss was held to 54 yards on 14 carries.
“Our team has a lot of passion, and it has a lot of grit,” Horton said. “I’d say we have more grit than any team in Livingston County or the state.”