Luke Haggerty shines for Trojans
<p>Hard charging Luke Haggerty with a gain of 3 yards in first quarter action vs. Florence.</p>
Luke Haggerty, the football Trojans’ junior standout wide receiver and defensive back, has had a familiar teammate all his life in older brother Andrew.
On the athletic field, whether it was American Legion baseball or on the gridiron, Luke has always known Andrew was there to watch his back, that is, until recently when Andrew, a senior wide receiver/linebacker, suffered a broken collarbone in the Trojans’ game with Bigfork on Sept. 28.
“Yeah, it’s kind of different not having (Andrew) here with me,” said Luke after the Trojans 24-14 loss to Mission last Friday.
The absence of the senior Haggerty didn’t bother the junior Haggerty too much, as Luke turned in arguably his best performance of the season as he caught two touchdown passes from junior quarterback Gabe Hickman. Luke’s second score, however, which would have put the Trojans ahead, was called back for a penalty.
The second TD was a great crossing post-pattern in which Luke outran defenders down the right sideline.
Luke’s touchdown in the first quarter gave the Trojans a lead, and freshman running back Sean Opland converted a two-point conversion to give the Trojans an 8-6 lead. That lead was short-lived, however, as Mission scored to take a lead that was only threatened by Haggerty’s called back TD in the third quarter.
“It’s too bad, but I understand it,” Luke said. “Our guys were just trying to make something good happen. It happens.”
The recalled touchdown changed the momentum of the game, a fact that was not wasted on Trojan head coach Jim Dasios.
“We played better defensively,” Dasios said. “We’re getting better, but turnovers still kill us. Crucial (plays) still kill us.”
When Luke takes to the field at Plains on Friday, Andrew again will be absent as the injury has sidelined him for the rest of the season and erased any hopes for basketball season as well.
“We’ll be OK,” Luke said. “I know Andrew wants to be out there, but we’ll do OK. We are playing better. I think he was thinking of playing basketball, but that’s probably not going to happen either.”
Game time is 7 p.m. Friday in Plains.
The 0-6 Trojans will end their season at home at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 against Thompson Falls.