Hawks use victory to remind each other it’s time to seize moment and momentum

QUINCY — It’s time for the Quincy University football team to leave the shoulds, woulds and coulds in the past.

A 38-17 victory over Walsh on Saturday to cap a season-opening three-game homestand has the Hawks looking forward, not back.

“I’ve been here since 2018 and I never would have thought we’d beat a team of this caliber at home,” senior wide receiver AJ Hardin said. “It’s just never been like this. The progress we’ve made so far is just like night and day. I’m excited for what’s next.”

That’s a trip to Ohio next Saturday to go head-to-head with Ashland, which is 0-2 but its losses have been in overtime to No. 9 Notre Dame College and No. 2 Ferris State. On the flip side, the Hawks are 2-1 and have won back-to-back games.

“We want to ride the momentum and go in there hot,” Hardin said. “Tough road game, so we just wanted to get the momentum.”

It’s time to seize that.

“Yes, it’s time,” sophomore quarterback Tionne Harris said. “We were picked eighth in our conference. We were picked last. It’s a big statement for everybody. It’s showing what we can really do.”

It didn’t take long. After forcing Walsh to go three-and-out on its first possession, Hardin hauled in a pass from Tionne Harris deep over the middle of the field and outran Cavaliers cornerback Javon Colston to the front corner of the end zone for an 83-yard touchdown.

“We knew they were going to roll down and give me a one-on-one across the middle,” Hardin said. “We knew it was going to be a home run play. We were calling it out.”

All Hardin had to do was win the foot race.

“I looked back because I thought I had him beat,” Hardin said. “When I did, I thought, ‘He’s kind of moving.’ So I had to turn it up a notch.”

Hardin also hauled in a 42-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter as he caught seven passes for 188 yards. He’s grabbed four touchdown passes in the first three games as the Hawks have opened up the passing game with sophomore quarterback Tionne Harris at the helm.

Harris, who missed last week’s victory against Iowa Wesleyan with a shoulder injury, returned this week to complete 18 of 37 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns. Eugene Witherspoon caught scoring tosses of 41 and 22 yards.

“The energy we had was positive,” Harris said. “We kept the energy up. We were staying up top of the game. Once we got the wheels going, we kept rolling.”

The defense did its part, too. The return of all-conference linebacker Peyten Chappel and defensive back Lazerick Hill allowed the Hawks to be aggressive, and they forced four turnovers, had four sacks and constantly disrupted the Cavaliers flow.

Walsh was just 6 of 15 on third down and managed just 4.2 yards per carry.