Falling to 0-2 of the season, the Sundown Roughnecks’ offensive production was not enough to hold off the Sudan Hornets.
After Sundown scored 14 points in the third quarter, Sudan responded in the third quarter with 22 points, topping the Roughnecks 36-20.
The Hornets sealed the victory after recovering a fumble during a kickoff return, setting them up to score in the fourth quarter.
A series of special teams miscues dwindled the momentum of the Roughnecks, leading to the ultimate loss.
Sundown’s head coach Brannon Rodgers described the game of football as a “game of momentum,” he said after his team’s momentum dwindled in the fourth quarter due to not being able to capitalize on special teams.
“We got pinned on the end of the field quite a bit and couldn’t get our offense off that end of the field,” Rodgers said. “We had a pretty good (kickoff) return going and then we football the ball.”
After the special teams meltdown, coach Rodgers says his team will be cleaning up the kinks on that side of the field leading up to their next matchup.
“Early in the season, special teams are always a factor,” Rodgers said. “That’s going to be a big key this week, coming into the Tulia game.”
This year’s Roughnecks team is different than what they anticipated coming into the season, as they had three season-ending injuries to senior leaders, now leaning on eight sophomores to adjust to the game quickly.
“We’ve got a lot of young kids out there that are learning what it’s like to play on Friday nights,” Rodgers said. “We are kind of revamping some things that we came into the season thinking we’re going to be there, and through injury we’re trying to overcome some of those.”
In their next matchup, the Roughnecks are looking to clean up their special teams and see more development out of their young players versus the Tulia Hornets on the road at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11.