NEWPORT — No team had to wait longer to get on the football field than Hermon did.
On Saturday, the debut for the Hawks proved worth the wait.
Johnny Kokoska found receivers Clark Pelletier and Bruce Coulter for touchdowns on Hermon’s final two drives, and the Hawks, previously inactive due to COVID protocols, erased a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Nokomis 19-13.
“We’ve done nothing for three weeks, minus Zoom meetings. The guys have been on the couch drinking Mountain Dew for three weeks,” coach Kyle Gallant said. “It’s so nice to be back. I went from a football fan back to a football coach.”
“It’s great to be on a field and get a win,” said Pelletier, one of four Hermon seniors, who had two interceptions in addition to his touchdown catch. “It was just a good time. I can’t wait to have more games too.”
On the other sideline, Nokomis coach Jake Rogers said he’s looking for more effort from his team, which fell to 1-3.
“We’re still trying to figure out how to handle our business during the week and playing with the right type of attitude,” he said. “Handling one’s business, and we’re not doing that right now.”
The Warriors did hold a 12-6 lead after quarterback Grady Hartsgrove’s 1-yard sneak with 30 seconds left in the third, but Hermon was ready to respond.
“I think we finally realized, after those three weeks, that we shouldn’t take it for granted anymore,” said Kokoska, who completed six of 15 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns. “We dug down and were like ‘They’re not going to beat us. We’re going to score this thing and we’re going to win.'”
Nokomis High School quarterback Grady Hartsgrove (1) holds on to the ball for the quarterback sneak to convert fourth down against Hermon High School on Saturday at Nokomis High School in Newport. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Hermon drove from its own 26-yard line to the Nokomis 25 before seemingly running into fourth-and-long, but a roughing the passer penalty instead made it first-and-goal at the 9. The Hawks scored two plays later, with Kokoska finding Pelletier (two catches, 36 yards) on a 10-yard slant to tie the game at 12 with 6:28 to go.
Nokomis went three-and-out on the next series, and Hermon continued the momentum. A fumbled handoff set up third-and-12 from the 34-yard line, but Kokoska lofted a perfect pass to Coulter on a fly pattern and the freshman outraced the Warrior defense for a 66-yard score and, after Owen Wyman’s extra point, a 19-12 lead with 2:47 to go.
“There’s no one faster than him,” Kokoska said. “There was no one over the top, no safety. I knew he could outrun them, and I threw it about as far as I could.”
“It was crazy, actually,” Coulter said. “I was running a 9 (route), and I knew I could get past him. It was just a trust thing, that Johnny put it in there. And it was perfectly placed.”
Nokomis’s last-chance drive got off to a good start when Hartsgrove (9-of-25, 125 yards) found A.J. Leali (13 carries, 47 yards) for 15 yards on a screen and Aaron Mooers picked up 12 yards on a sweep to the Hermon 29, but the Warriors couldn’t get closer from there.
Rogers said the team struggled all game to get going, particularly during a first half that featured no scoring until Kokoska found Chasen Flanders for a 31-yard connection with 30 seconds left before the break.
Hermon High School running back Gary Glidden (21) gets tackled by Nokomis High School’s Alex Vachon (14) during a game Saturday in Newport. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“I noticed it during pregame that we were just in mud,” Rogers said. “It’s been our M.O. We start slow, it takes forever to get a little bit of mojo going, and usually we can notice it right during pregame, guys are going slow. We felt the whole first half was that way.”
Nokomis got an instant energy boost when it held Hermon on its first drive of the second half and Isaiah Morin took the ensuing punt 65 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 6 with 9:47 left.
The Warriors made a big stand on their next defensive series, letting Hermon drive to the 1-yard line but then stiffening, with Ace Flagg stopping Hawks running back Gary Glidden (17 carries, 72 yards) for a loss of 10. Nokomis took advantage, going 89 yards and ending the march with Hartsgrove’s go-ahead touchdown.
Nokomis needed one more stop, but with the game on the line, it never came.
“They’re still fighting that self-doubt within themselves,” Rogers said. “It’s a battle. Some players have an easier time with it, others don’t. It’s part of coaching, trying to figure out how to get them to realize how to play at the highest level all the time.”
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