COLUMN: Hemingway perseveres on the field

If you’re a football team in need of a little inspiration, take a look at Hemingway High School.

Granted, injuries were, are and always will be a part of any game as violent as football.

The Tigers, though, have had more than their fair share of attrition this season.

They’ve lost two major starters for the season because of injuries.

Four starters have missed at least one game because of injuries.

Three starters moved out of district and are no longer on the team.

Another starter left for personal reasons.

The Tigers have used five quarterbacks this year.

Add all that up, and it’s a major blow to team from a school of any size, much less a Class A school, where most teams have little depth to begin with and losing that many starters often is a proverbial death knell in terms of a successful season.

But the Tigers are still winning, sporting a 5-2 overall record and a 3-0 mark in Region 8-A.

Certainly, they’ve hit a couple of speed bumps, and the success they’ve had has not come easily.

They lost a one-point game to St. James the second week of the season, a game in which coach Ken Cribb said his team played without its entire starting secondary. Hemingway’s other loss was a 15-12 game at Hannah-Pamplico.

But Cribb has plausible explanations for his team’s success.

For starters, even though it might sound like a cliché, he said he believes the Tigers’ work ethic and determination are second to none.

“A lot of teams would have folded up,” Cribb said. “But we’ve been working and getting a little better all the time.“

Injuries are one thing. Injuries at quarterback are a different animal.

The Tigers lost starter Denzell Wedgeworth in the preseason with a broken leg, which led to Tashan Fredrick taking over.

Fredrick then separated his shoulder against Kingstree, which gave Justin Pressley his chance.

Then Cribb decided to give Shaquille Wells a chance, and he sprained his ankle.

For the past few weeks, Pressley and Quinton Brown have been the Tigers’ “two-headed monster,” Cribb said.

He’s still somewhat at a loss as to how his team — or any team — could make things work using a fourth and fifth quarterback, but he has an idea.

“We’ve been fortunate to have good athletes being able to step up and do the things we need them to do,” Cribb said. “And our system doesn’t really change year to year. So at least they’ve got a clue when they get there.“

One positive, Cribb said, is that he likes the depth the Tigers have developed behind center.

And it hasn’t hurt that Hemingway has played solid defense, surrendering 36 points in its five wins — 22 of those came in one game.

Tonight, Cribb takes his rugged band of warriors to Johnsonville for a rivalry game that might not get as much attention as some, but is just as intense.

“It’s like the Hatfields and the McCoys,” Cribb said, chuckling.

It’s a game — if there were odds on high school games — the Tigers would be favored to win. That will also be the case next week when Hemingway hosts Green Sea-Floyds.

If Hemingway takes care of business, it likely will set up a Halloween night showdown with Lake View for the Region 8-A championship.

If that pans out, the Tigers should win some sort of award other than a trophy — maybe a golden crutch or something, considering what they’ve been through.
Cribb doesn’t know if a region title is on the horizon or not.

But he does know one thing.

“This team won’t quit,” he said. “They’ll give me everything they’ve got.“

And if that’s not enough to account for Hemingway’s success, Cribb has one more explanation.

“Smoke and mirrors,” he said.

Maybe. But when a team endures what the Tigers have, it calls for whatever a coach has at his disposal.

Maybe it is unexplainable.

Or maybe the Tigers are just a great example of what being a team is all about.

— E-mail assistant sports editor Mark Haselden at