The Holley Hawks and Marcus Whitman met at Holley High School for the first 8 man football game of the season between the two teams.
The final score was 58-52, with Holley coming out on top under grueling field conditions. At half time, the heat index on the field was 89.
At the end of the first quarter, Whitman held a 18-16 lead. With Jacob Affronti leading the way for the Hawks.
In he second, the Hawks took the lead on three long TD runs by Affronti, but with 7:30 left in the half, Marcus Whitman got a long run from Austin Webster that brought the ball down to the 2 yard line. Quarterback Seth Benedict pounded his way into the end zone to tie the game and then got the 2 point conversion to take a 26-24 lead.
The Marcus Whitman lead was short lived, The Hawks came right back down the field making the score 30-26 on an Affronti run.
Tony Faruggia then intercepted a Marcus Whitmore pass late in the second quarter and Jacob Affronti again made it to the end zone to give the Hawks a 36-26 lead.
With 39 seconds left in the first half, Austin Smith caught a pass and ran it in to bring Whitmore within four points at the half, 36-32.
In the fourth quarter, both teams fought a bitter battle until the end with both teams exchanging touchdowns. In the end, the Hawks came out on top to win their first game of the 8 man season.
Next Saturday, C.G. Finney will travel to Holley for game two of the season.