Heat clinch No. 2 seed

HOT SPRINGS – It was a tale of two games played in two cities in the space of less than two days and, in the end, maybe it was just a little too much to do.

The No. 2 Hot Springs Savage Heat defeated the Noxon Red Devils 48-28 in Hot Springs Thursday night under the lights and then went to White Sulphur Springs, where they lost to the host Hornets, the No. 6 rated 6-Man team in Montana, 53-15 Saturday afternoon.

The one-win, one-loss weekend leaves the suddenly battle-weary Heat with a 3-1 record and the No. 2 seed into the Montana 6-Man playoffs, if and when that postseason comes to pass during the pandemic we are all going through.

Coach Jim Lawson complimented both foes while taking nothing away from his battle-ready feisty Savage Heat. The Heat held off Noxon with a strong fourth quarter effort after building a big lead early. The beat-up Heat, less than 45 hours later, could not muster as much of an effort in the game at White Sulphur Springs.

"Noxon is a good, solid, all-around team," Lawson said, "and we had to expend a lot of energy in holding them off in the second half. And White Sulphur is a load, they have a lot of team speed, are solid at most every position and they have depth.

"We agreed to this arrangement of playing the two games in three days," he added, "but it definitely took a physical toll, especially when we don't have a lot of numbers on our roster."

Lawson's son Kyle took things in his own hands against Noxon, scoring all four first-half touchdowns as the Heat ran out to a 28-0 lead over the stunned Devils.

Kyle Lawson scored his first touchdown on a 21-yard option pass form Lincoln Slonaker, the next two TDs on one-yard runs and the fourth on a spectacular over-the-shoulder pass catch from Jack McAllister for a 27-yard scoring play right before halftime. Kyle also added two two-point after-touchdown kicks after those last two TDs.

After Noxon staged a strong comeback in the second half (please see other story for details), the Heat made the plays they had to down the stretch to hold on and win.

"You have to give Noxon credit for coming back, we kind of expected them to do that," coach Lawson said. "But we were able to finish, get some big stops and make some good drives late in the game."

With the score now 36-28 Hot Springs, the Heat put the game away with a pair of late touchdowns, the first one on a four-yard pass from McAllister to Slonaker and the second on another one-yard run by Lawson (followed by another Lawson kick for two points) to close out the 48-28 win.

Kyle Lawson again posted some eye-popping numbers, catching seven passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns and rushing the ball 18 times for another 70 yards and three touchdowns, McAllister completed 13 of 20 passes for 158 yards and two TDs, and Bert DeTienne caught three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.

DeTienne was all over the field in leading the Hot Springs defense, collecting an amazing total of 19 tackles to lead the Heat. Kyle Lawson added 10 stops.

The White Sulphur Springs Hornets were laying in wait for the Heat Saturday and took full advantage of the situation. After spotting the Heat an 8-6 lead in the first quarter, the Hornets registered the next 47 points of the game on the way to the 53-15 win.

"White Sulphur is for real this year," coach Lawson said, "and are capable of going pretty far in the playoffs. Taking nothing away from them though, the Noxon game was an emotional drain and we didn't have much legs left in the second half in White Sulphur Springs."

McAllister scored Hot Springs' first touchdown on a one-yard run in the first quarter and Kyle Lawson caught a seven-yard scoring strike from McAllister for the second in White Sulphur. Lawson was good with a two-point kick after McAllister's TD, giving the Heat a brief 8-6 lead in the game's opening minutes.

McAllister completed 12 of 20 passes for 92 yards and added 38 yards rushing on 14 carries, and Kyle Lawson caught 11 passes for 80 yards against the Hornets. Defensively, Lawson muscled up for a team-leading 13 tackles and McAllister had 10.