The Sonic Drive-In-Player-of-the-Game for Thursday, September 27, is KZ Hutchinson of the Gainesville football team.
Hutchinson, a junior running back, scored four touchdowns, three of those coming in the opening half, as Gainesville cruised past Forest (Ocala), 46-7, in a District 5-6A game Thursday night at Citizens Field.
The Hurricanes scored seven touchdowns on their first seven possessions against Forest, cruising to a 39-7 lead at half and getting to a running clock halfway through the third quarter.
Senior running back Niles Cromwell put Gainesville on the board with a 27-yard TD run just two and a half minutes into the game. Then after a Forest punt, the Hurricanes scored again with eight seconds to go in the opening period on Hutchinson’s first touchdown run from 17 yards, and the Gainesville lead was 13-0 after the first quarter.
A Forest fumble on their next drive gave the Hurricanes the ball at the Wildcats 21, and Cromwell punched it in from four yards out to extend the Gainesville lead to 19-0. After another Forest fumble on their next possession once again gave the Hurricanes the ball at the Wildcats 21 yard line, Hutchinson’s second rushing score from five yards out and ensuing two point pass from senior Luke Matthews to senior Jalen Kelsey gave Gainesville a 27-0 advantage.
Forest drove deep into Gainesville territory on the next drive, but were stopped on 4th down inside the 1-yard line. The Hurricanes quickly went 99 yards in two plays, as Matthews completed an 89 yard strike to Seth Cox to further extend the Gainesville lead to 33-0.
After Forest scored their only touchdown on a 3-yard run by Chase Oliver, Hutchinson came back with his third score, this time from two yards, and the Gainesville lead was 39-7 at the halftime break.
Hutchinson’s fourth TD was the only score of the second half, as he ran in from seven yards to give the Hurricanes a 46-7 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter and a running clock the rest of the game.
Matthews passed for 321 yards and the score to Cox for Gainesville, which improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in district play. The Hurricanes will be back in action next Friday against city rival Buchholz (Gainesville) at Citizens Field.
Forest falls to 3-3 and 1-1 in District 5-6A and has a week off before facing Lake Weir (Ocala) on October 12.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
