Hocutt helps Ellison power past winless Wolves Posted On: Saturday, Oct. 31 2009 05:01 AM By Kevin Posival
Killeen Daily Herald

While Devon Hocutt worked the middle of the Shoemaker defense, David Cobb was able to bounce outside.

Eventually Hocutt, a 6-foot-1, 255-pound junior linebacker/fullback, was too much a load for Shoemaker to bring down.

Hocutt ran for 103 yards and a touchdown in Eric West's absence and blocked for Cobb, who rushed for a game-high 181 yards and two touchdowns to snap Ellison's three-game losing streak with a 21-0 win over winless Shoemaker.

"We ran him some last week," Ellison coach Buddy McBryde said of Hocutt. "We've had some injuries and we put him in the backfield. We needed someone who could pound some yardage out for us.

"I thought he did great. He held on to the ball and got the first downs that we needed."

Other than Hocutt's emergence in the backfield, it was a familiar story on a different night for both teams.

Ellison (4-5, 2-4 12-5A) turned the ball over three times, including a fumble and an interception in the first half, and the Shoemaker (0-9, 0-6) offense struggled, gaining just 83 total yards.

"We just didn't click offensively like we have been. And that's been our story all year, really," said Shoemaker coach Ken Gray.

The Eagles' first-half turnovers killed two scoring opportunities inside the Shoemaker 30-yard line.

In the first quarter Ellison quarterback Tarron Burch was picked off by Stephen Young at the Shoemaker 12 on his first pass attempt and Cobb lost a second-quarter fumble at the Shoemaker 27.

"(Fumbles have) been our problem all year ... we managed to cut them out in the second half," McBryde said. "We're still working on it."

Jermaine Lenzy fumbled a punt after the Grey Wolves' second half-opening drive, but the Grey Wolves couldn't advance the ball any farther than Ellison's 47-yard line and had just 27 yards total after all three turnovers.

"I just felt like if we could've hit some passes early and move the ball," Gray said. "I think our defense did a great, great job. To stop guys like they have and their offensive line. I thought our kids, especially with some of the patchwork, did a good job."

Shoemaker's best starting field position was the Ellison 46 after Young returned Burch's interception 42 yards. The Grey Wolves picked up 12 yards on a quarterback keeper from Jammie Blunt to the Ellison 34 but Blunt was picked off two plays later by Prezel Hardy and that was as close as the Grey Wolves got to scoring thanks to Ellison's defense, which was abused in double-digit losses to Belton, Bryan and Temple the last three weeks.

"The kids never quit, they've hung there and played hard for us all year," McBryde said. "We've still got one more to go; it's not over with yet. The kids played good tonight. The defense really stepped up and played well."

Hocutt, who didn't play defense Friday night, carried three times for 12 yards on the Eagles' first dive and Cobb did the rest on his first carry of the night, sprinting for a 41-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Hocutt's first touchdown this season, a 3-yarder in the second quarter, gave Ellison a 14-0 at halftime.

Hocutt had 88 rushing yards in the first half while Cobb, who also had a three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, rolled up 142 in the starring role.

"(Hocutt's) a load isn't he? He's a real load, he did a good job for them," Gray said. "We weren't expecting West ... to be out. We were prepared for their offense because they're offense is pretty doggone awesome."

Contact Kevin Posival at kposival@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7562.