When your high school football roster totals 20 players before the first game, you can’t afford to lose too many players.

But that was the case at Huntington High as head coach Jay Murphree lost senior tailback Collin Taunton to a knee injury in the fifth game of the year and had four others quit for personal reasons.

Still, the Hounds stayed in the playoff picture most of the season, finishing 3-7 overall.

The Hounds finished 2-4 in MPSA&160;District 6A.

&uot;We played some close games,&uot; Murphree said. &uot;It really hurt losing Collin. He was on pace to have a 1,000-yard season. But the kids played hard, the ones who stuck it out and gave a good effort. In most every game we would come up short at the end.

&uot;We could have very easily gone 7-3 instead of 3-7. We lost a couple of game by one or two points.&uot;

Taunton, who finished with 410 yards on 72 carries, was hurt in the thrilling 30-25 win over Huntington.

Senior quarterback Tom Terry Milliken missed the previous week’s game after having an appendectomy.

Milliken, a senior, rushed 73 times for 465 yards. He completed 33 of 81 passes for 347 yards.

&uot;Tom Terry did a great job,&uot; Murphree said. &uot;He was our MVP on offense. He showed a lot of guts and how tough he is by coming back the week after surgery. He’s going to be hard to replace. We may have to change our scheme a little bit.&uot;

Junior Luke Davis rushed for 472 yards on 81 carries. Junior Kenneth Clayton had 378 rushing yards

Sophomore Barrett Arthur rushed for 51 yards. He led the Hounds on defense with 121 tackles, 14 sacks, 11 tackles for losses and four fumble recoveries.

Sophomore Josh Johns caught seven passes for 109 yards.

Senior Cody Turnage caught five passes for 81 yards.

&uot;Beating Trinity was probably the higlight, no doubt about it,&uot; Murphree said.

Murphree is optimistic the Hounds can compete next year.

&uot;We’re hoping for some big things,&uot; he said. &uot;After we lost Collin we had a few backs get some experience. Skill-wise we should be pretty good. We have some holes to fill in our offensive line.&uot;