The West Harrison Hurricanes make history with a 3-0 start. ‘We have to work harder.’
West Harrison is treading on new ground in 2022.
The Hurricanes have taken down all three opponents they’ve faced to open the season, a feat that had never been accomplished before in the program’s previous 13 years of existence.
Quincy Patrick’s team won its first two games by a combined score of 65-7 and then found the record books with a 47-46 win over St. Helena in Louisiana last Friday.
“There are no preseason playoffs or preseason awards, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Patrick told the Sun Herald. “It gives our kids confidence. We’re 0-0 going into district with a tough, tough East Central ball club coming up.”
The schedule gets significantly tougher in district play, but the Hurricanes are also showing brighter signs of life this year than in season’s past.
West Harrison’s 37.3 points per game out-of-district is the most since scoring 38.8 in four non-district games in 2019. Except in 2019, the team won just one of those four games.
“I feel like we’ve performed good as a whole team,” running back Javon McCalebb said. “As a group, I feel like (the running backs) are built with more confidence in running the ball. Melvin (Pickens) used to get the ball most of the game, but now we get the ball and we feel like we can do stuff with it.”
Melvin Pickens was the team’s leading rusher heading into the new year but was lost for the season with an injury. In his place, McCalebb, Jeremy Jones, Trey Harris and Jordan Stapleton, none of which are seniors, have run wild.
The stable is already over 1,000 team rushing yards and has logged 14 touchdowns. Patrick credits his official running back’s coach and his young, new and unofficial coaching prodigy for his offense’s success.
“You got to give our running backs coach Austin Holley all the credit,” Patrick said. “He’s done a fantastic job with his guys. And we lost Melvin Pickens the player, but we gained Melvin Pickens the coach. He’s coaching the running backs more than I am on Friday nights. Those guys look up to him still, they don’t want to let him down.”
Pickens tells the Sun Herald he hopes to be a football coach after school and Patrick is already planning on making him a member of the staff when he’s ready.
In the meantime, Pickens’ absence on the field has created a new dynamic among the group of ball carriers.
“It’s really next man up mentality,” McCalebb said. “Melvin was our leading rusher and I was the second option. Now when Melvin got out, it was my time to shine.”
McCalebb is one of four running backs averaging at least 7.0 yards per carry and one of three with multiple touchdowns.
It’s a room that Pickens has become proud to be a member of.
“I feel like we have the best young running back group on the Coast,” Pickens said. “They should be one of the best groups in the state. They all want the ball, we got to try and find a way to divvy it up. Each time they touch it, you are going to feel them and they’re going to get positive yards every time.”
The four backs leading the charge combine for 973 rushing yards, just 37 short of what Pickens ran for all of last year.
Carrying their momentum into a brutal seven-game district schedule will be crucial. The Hurricanes have a bye this week after the tight, one-point win out-of-state on Friday. It was a game that served as a reminder to the team that 3-0 is good, but it’s only a start.
“It kept us humble, I thought,” linebacker Landon Moran said. “It made us think that we can still be beat. So we have to work harder.”
West Harrison will return to action against a currently undefeated East Central team on Sept. 23.
