For the first time in over a year, the Howe Sound Sounders lost a regular season game after falling to the Frank Hurt Hornets 35-6 on Saturday (Oct. 16).
The Sounders fell behind early and couldn't recover from the Hornets potent offence, which was successful both on the ground and in the air.
According to Sounders head coach Rob Ryan, poor attendance at practice is contributing to the team's recent struggles.
"We played like we haven't practiced, which we haven't," he said. "We can't wait until the games and expect to execute and win. We need more guys to show up at practice and more commitment."
The Sounders had a perfect season last year, going 6-0 but Ryan said the competition this year is tougher.
"There are a lot of better teams in Tier 2 this year," he said. "We're just going through some growing pains right now. We can match-up with any team in this league but we just need to come together better as a team."
Frank Hurt scored on their first drive of the game on a long pass but the Sounders responded on the very next drive with running back Cory Constantin rumbling in to put six points on the board.
That was as close as it would get for the Sounders as Constantin and Anthony Wuster both were nursing nagging injuries, which handicapped the offence.
The Hornets managed to reach the end zone on their second drive as well, but this time showcasing their ground game.
After a Sounders turn over on downs, Frank Hurt again hit pay dirt after connecting on a long bomb by quarterback Devoun Hallems.
Hallems played a monster of a game, passing for 91 yards and two touchdowns and also contributing with a touchdown and 50 yards on the ground.
Miscommunication between Ryan and the officials caused the Sounders to miss using a timeout at the end of the half and Howe Sound was down 28-6 heading into the third.
The remainder of the game turned into a battle of field position as the Sounders couldn't seem to generate much on the offensive side of the ball. The Hornets added another touchdown in the third to go up 35-6 and that would be the final score.
Hornets offensive co-ordinator Craig Klemets said his team was motivated after a poor performance in their last game against Moscrop.
"We wanted to focus on the fundamentals today and it was nice to see all the hard work we did in practice pay off," he said.
Hornets head coach Duane Linnen praised the work of his young quarterback.
"I thought he played very well," Linnen said of Hallems. "He saw the field really well and I think a lot of that had to do with the play of our offensive line. That was probably the best game the offensive line has played in two years."
The Sounders and Hornets now sport identical 2-1 records and sit atop the Tier 2 Western Conference standings. Howe Sound will next host the Moscrop Panthers on Saturday (Oct. 23). Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Howe Sound field.
