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The Helena Huskies extended their win streak over Pelham to five straight on-field meetings as they dominated both ends of the field for a 40-point win over their fiercest rival. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HELENA – The Helena Huskies saved their biggest statement of the season for their most anticipated game as they dominated their bitter rivals from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.

Helena cruised to a 42-2 win over the Pelham Panthers on Oct. 11 at Helena High School, continuing the Huskies’ recent success in the rivalry as they have not lost to Pelham on the field since 2018.

“It’s just like any big game, comes down to blocking and tackling and just the little things, and we did the little things better all week,” Helena coach Richie Busby said. “We prepared well, and our kids get ready to play for Pelham, and we did a really good job tonight on all three phases of the game.”

Helena moved the ball at will throughout the first half, starting with an 80-yard drive on the first series of the game.

Jeremy Spratling set the Huskies up for success with a 27-yard run to the Pelham 34-yard line, and that set up a first-down play in the air from Nate Ferguson to Nathan Jones.

Ferguson capped the drive by calling his own number for a rushing touchdown to put Helena up 7-0 with 9:11 remaining in the first quarter.

Pelham was unable to get going on its first drive of the game, which became a theme of the game as the Huskies defense shut down most of the Panthers options throughout the night.

A Fred Grooms sack on second down put Pelham behind the chains and eventually led to a punt.

While the Huskies were forced to punt on the ensuing drive, they quickly got another opportunity thanks to the defense.

Helena’s defense got another sack during a scramble, and after the ball was forced out, Austin Acosta recovered the ball at the Pelham 12-yard line, setting the offense up with a short field.

Spratling took the lead on the short drive, converting a fourth-and-1 on the 3 before punching it in from the 1 to double the lead to 14-0 in the final minutes of the first quarter.

On Helena’s next drive, Torrey Ward got the offense down the field with a tight sideline catch at the Panthers 31.

Later on, Ferguson made a quick turn to hit Jones with a pass, and the senior receiver took care of the rest for a 10-yard touchdown to make the lead 21-0 with 8:55 left in the second.

Soon enough, that lead would grow to 28 after Ferguson corralled a wild snap with one hand and ran it in along the left side for his second touchdown of the night and the Huskies’ fourth with 3:35 to go until halftime.

Ferguson worked the left sideline one more time in the dying seconds of the half, only this time, he found Gavin Franks for a short touchdown pass that made the halftime lead 35-0.

The second half started much like the first did as Pelham was forced into a three-and-out before Helena embarked on a long scoring drive.

Isaiah Kenney got the Huskies to the 12 with a big catch. The next play, Spratling scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to extend the lead to 42-0 with 6:07 left in the third.

That proved to be the end for the Helena starters, but disaster struck towards the end of the third quarter that put Pelham on the board.

After the Panthers backed up the Huskies deep in their own territory and forced a punt, the ensuing snap went past the punter and to the back of the end zone. That gave Pelham a safety which proved to be its lone two points of the night.

From there, the Huskies ran down the clock in the fourth quarter and saw out the 40-point win over their bitter rivals.

Ferguson had an efficient night, going 16-for-20 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the air along with 42 yards and two rushing touchdowns off eight carries, giving him four total touchdowns in just three quarters of action.

Jones was his top receiver with five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. Ward caught three passes for 44 yards along with an 11-yard jet sweep and Franks had three receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown.

Spratling got just a hair under a 100-yard rushing day with 19 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Combined with Ferguson’s two rushing touchdowns, Helena scored four times on the ground.

Jerrod McClain took nine carries for 24 yards, Jacoby Studimire had four carries for 22 yards and Dom Santiago rounded out the group with three carries for 17 yards.

Busby also gave praise to his defense which held Pelham scoreless while it was on the field.

“They played well for two weeks now,” Busby said. “We’ve got those three young linebackers, and Jonathan (Roberto)’s not young as far as experience goes, but the other two are young.”

With the team’s second-straight win, Helena is now 4-3 overall and 3-1 in region play. Busby credits the tough tests the Huskies faced against Spain Park in region action and Moody and Oxford in non-region play for helping them improve.

“We knew we played a tough schedule during the stretch of the season, and it’s starting to show in our play,” Busby said. “We’re going enjoy this one over the weekend, put it behind us, and we’ve got to get ready for Chelsea next week because they’ve got a good ball team.”

Helena will play the Chelsea Hornets on the road next week on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at Chelsea High School in a crucial battle for positioning in Class 6A, Region 3.

As for Pelham, the Panthers dropped to 1-6 and will next host the Benjamin Russell Wildcats on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at Ned Bearden Stadium in hopes of getting back to winning ways.

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