MOUNTAIN HOME, Ar. — Nobody has forgotten Owen Miller, but Justin Crutchmer is making his loss a lot easier to take with his performance Friday night at Mountain Home.
Class 6A’s second-ranked Lake Hamilton lost its senior running back (Miller) two weeks ago to a knee injury, and Crutchmer took his place in the Wolves’ wing-T formation. Crutchmer rushed for more than 100 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Wolves past Mountain Home, 36-6.
Lake Hamilton improves to 4-0 on the year and 1-0 in Conference 6A West.
The Wolves lost a shutout on the final play of the game when Mountain Home senior Brady Patterson caught a touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Cade Yates. It appeared Yates came close to crossing the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass.
Mountain Home had three first downs
That score was set up by a fumble, Lake Hamilton’s only turnover of the game. The host Bombers only had three first downs in the game, but made several defensive stands to keep the score as close as it was.
Crutchmer scored his first touchdown on a 6-yard run with 10:14 left in the first quarter. senior Tevin Hughes set up the score with a 60-yard kickoff return. Alex Hurtz converted the decisive point.
Crutchmer contributed on defense and special teams, too. His second score was a 39-yard run with 3:26 left in the first quarter. He also had touchdown runs of 36 and 3 yards.
Hurtz kicked a 25-yard field goal in the second half, but missed his final two PAT kicks. Senior Noah Tiernan scored the Wolves’ final six-pointer with 10:35 left in the game.
Lake Hamilton returns home next week to play Little Rock Parkview, which knocked off Greenwood Thursday night, 48-28.