Huron defense scores twice, Tigers beat Port Clinton to clinch SBC Bay

PORT CLINTON — The Huron defense outscoring its offense is pretty rare. It nearly happened Friday night at True-Lay Stadium as the Tigers used a pair of Pick-6s in the first half to propel them to a 25-6 win over Port Clinton and at least a share of the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division crown. "That's crazy because we're known as a high-scoring team," said Jacob Lamb, who scored on a 30-yard interception return just 11 seconds after grabbing a 12-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. "We come into every game with a great defensive game plan and come in and execute." The win left the Tigers (5-0, 4-0) with at least a share of their first SBC title since winning it outright in 2014. This is the first time Huron has captured a SBC Bay title. "That was one of our main goals," said quarterback Cole Parker, who opened the scoring with a Pick-6 on Port Clinton's first offensive series of the game. "Our first goal was to get the SBC title, our second is to go undefeated because we want to see our banner up as SBC champions with an undefeated season. That would be awesome." The Tigers can win the title outright next week at home against Edison. Port Clinton slips to 3-2 overall an 3-1 in the Bay. The Redskins will visit Ottawa County rival Oak Harbor next week. "This feels good, but we don't like to share," Huron coach Sam Hohler said. "It's been awhile since we've had this opportunity. Edison has been strong the last few years and it's become a rivalry game for both of us. We want to go back and fix what we did wrong and try to get a little better." Huron pushed its lead to 15-0 when Lamb hauled in a 12-yard scoring toss from Parker, dragging a foot inbounds before falling out of the back corner of the end zone. On the next play from scrimmage, Lamb leaped high from his linebacker spot to pick off another Gillum pass for a Pick-6 and a 22-0 lead. "I think it was half and half; we did it to ourselves and I think Huron did it to us," said Port Clinton coach Beau Carmon. "They're a good football team, and we did not handle it well. We did not handle their pressure, we didn't handle their physicality well defensively, and they took us out of our game plan and we weren't able to recover." Huron tacked on a 40-yard Abram Fortune field goal midway through the third quarter. The Redskins answered with an 86-yard scoring drive that ended on a 4-yard Gillum run. The sophomore quarterback also completed four consecutive passes for 70 yards to set up the score. Gillum finished the game by completing 11 of 25 passes for 100 yards after going 2-of-6 passing for two yards in the first half. Garrett Cornell led the Redskins on the ground with 36 yards on seven carries. Tommy Owens had two receptions for 34 yards. Parker was 9-of-19 passing for 55 yards with a touchdown and one interception. He added 68 yards rushing on 16 carries, while JJ Holliday rushed for 46 yards on 10 tries. "I thought our defense played very, very well," Hohler said. "Port Clinton has a nice offense and for us to get a couple of scores early defensively, I think that got them out of their rhythm and gave us the momentum early on." Huron 6 16 3 0 — 25 Port Clinton 0 0 6 0 — 6 H—Cole Parker 42 yard INT return (kick blocked) H—Abram Fortune 34 FG H—Jacob Lam 12 pass from Parker (kick blocked) H—Lamb 30 INT return (Fortune kick) H—Fortune 40 FG PC—Cam Gillum 4 run (run failed)