C.D. Hylton hammers Culpeper

By Ron Counts Staff Writer
Published: October 3, 2008

WOODBRIDGE — C.D. Hylton’s Rex Willis was swallowed by a mass of celebrating Bulldogs after intercepting a pass from Culpeper’s John Lezcano and returning it for a 25-yard touchdown. It wasn’t the only time they celebrated.

Hylton plucked four of Lezcano’s passes out of the air in the first half and the Bulldogs racked up 189 yards on the ground on their way to a 48-0 drubbing of the visiting Blue Devils.

“We have a plethora of backs and our line is solid,” Hylton running back Bill Nyantakyi said. “All of us have different styles, but what we have in common is we know how to find the end zone.”

The Bulldogs didn’t have any trouble finding the end zone on the ground or through the air Friday night.

Nyantakyi led the way with 84 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in two quarters of work. The 5-foot-6-inch junior’s most impressive run came in the closing minutes of the first half.

On third down the diminutive back took a hand off, barreled through the middle of the defense and stretched the ball over the goal line with two Blue Devils on his back to give Hylton (3-2) a 41-0 lead heading into halftime.

“He’s a little dynamo,” Hylton coach Lou Sorrentino said of Nyantakyi. “He’s strong for his size and he’s what we call a homerun hitter. He can put the ball in the end zone every time he touches it.“

The Bulldogs opened the game with a seven-play drive that covered 55 yards and culminated in Nyantakyi’s first trip across the goal line — a one-yard dive.
Hylton’s Kyhree Blake also found the end zone in the first half. He gave the Bulldogs a 34-0 lead by crashing through the middle of the Blue Devil’s defense for a one-yard score. Blake finished with 58 yards on six carries, while Reggie Douglas added 31 yards on nine carries.

“It’s hard for a defense to key on one guy in our backfield,” Nyantakyi said. “The fact that we have so many playmakers back there is probably our biggest strength.”

Hylton’s running backs slashed Culpeper’s defense all night, but the quarterbacks weren’t about to be left out. The Bulldogs quarterbacking duo of Joel Himan and Jabari Dukes found the end zone through the air three times.

Himan took a big hit from CCHS senior linebacker Matt Bennett in the closing seconds of the first quarter, but he stood in the pocket and delivered a 34-yard touchdown strike to Kevin Wheeler.

“This was only the second game we’ve played on a dry field,” Sorrentino said. “We have a dynamic offense, and that showed tonight. We got contributions from a lot of guys and we were balanced.”

Dukes came in to spell Himan a few times during the game, and he ended up finishing with two touchdown tosses. His first was a textbook fade to the corner of the end zone hauled in by senior D ayne Mullins early in the second quarter.

He also took part in the game’s final touchdown. Halfway through the third quarter, Dukes lobbed a pass toward the pylon that seemed destined to be picked off, but Jasper Willis made a nice mid-air adjustment to make the catch and get both feet in bounds for the score.

“Sorrentino really has a young talented team,” CCHS coach Greg Martz said. “He’s always had a great rushing attack. This year he has some dangerous runners and some talented receivers.”

After only gaining 12 yards of offense in the first half, Culpeper (0-4) made a change at quarterback and began to move the ball in the second half.

Steven Dodson connected on some nice passes and led the Blue Devils to three second-half first downs after Culpeper wasn’t able to record any during the first half. Lezcano was his favorite target. The duo hooked up three times for 27 yards.

“There was way too much pressure in our quarterback’s face in the first half,” Martz said. “The biggest difference in the second half was our mindset. We came out flat in all facets of the game, but we made some adjustments at the half and started making a few strides.”

Even with the lopsided loss, Martz said Friday’s game could help his Blue Devils prepare for Osbourn Park, who they host next Friday.

“The speed Hylton played with will help us get ready,” he said. “OP has a lot of speed at quarterback and in the backfield, so we have to be very ready to see this type of team again.”

Ron Counts can be reached at 825-0771 ext 166 or

CD Hylton 48, Culpeper 0

Hylton 14 27 7 0 — 0

CCHS   0 0 0 0 — 0

Scores by quarter

First quarter

Hylton — Nyantakyi 1-yard run (6:41) Portillo kick.

Hylton — Wheeler 34-yard catch from Himan (:53) Portillo kick.

Second quarter

Hylton — Mullins 9-yard catch from Dukes (10:43) Portillo kick.

Hylton — Willis 25-yard interception return (9:53) Portillo kick no good.

Hylton — Blake 1-yard run (3:54) Portillo kick.

Hylton — Nyantakyi 5-yard run (1:34) Portillo kick.

Third quarter

Hylton — Jasper Willis 26-yard catch from Dukes (6:40) Portillo kick.

Individual Statistics

Rushing — Hylton, Nyantakyi 11-84, Blake 6-58, Douglas 9-31, Heaton 3-11, Porter 2-6, Coleman 2-(-6), Dukes 1-2, Neeley 1-3. CCHS, Williams 4-13, Rollins 4-19, Strother 2-(-3), Whisenhunt 3-(-1), Lezcano 1-(-5), Dodson 3-(-7)

Receiving — Hylton, Wheeler 2-41, Porter 1-36, Willis 1-26, Mullins 1-9, Coleman 1-9. CCHS, Lezcano 3-27, Rollins 1-15, Jenkins 1-4, Wilkins 1-3.

Passing — Hylton, Himan 3-6-50-0, Dukes 3-5-71-0. CCHS, Lezcano 2-11-3-4, Dodson 5-9-46-1.