Hawks crush Gilmer, 56-28, in playoff game

Pleasant Grove's Dylan Hopkins and Nick Martin tackle Gilmer's Brannon Webb in the first half of their Class 4A, Division II regional quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at Eagle Stadium in Allen, Texas. (Photo by Kevin Sutton)
Pleasant Grove's Dylan Hopkins and Nick Martin tackle Gilmer's Brannon Webb in the first half of their Class 4A, Division II regional quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at Eagle Stadium in Allen, Texas. (Photo by Kevin Sutton)

ALLEN, Texas-Solidarity can lead to amazing feats and success.

Seven different players scored for Pleasant Grove, and the Hawks throttled Gilmer, 56-28, in a Class 4A, Division II regional playoff game at Allen High School's Eagle Stadium on Friday.

Pleasant Grove quarterback Ben Harmon threw five touchdown passes on 12-of-14 passing for 266 yards. His touchdown mark broke his own school record.

"We play team football," Hawks' head coach Josh Gibson said. "Sometimes, kids are not going to get gaudy stats. We are better as team when opponents have to stop more than one player; our kids buy into that. Everyone is going to get involved, and everyone will get rewarded.

"We had one of our best blocking games up front. We played well on the offensive line. Defensively, we did a good job as well. They guys did a great job running to the football and limiting big plays. It was a great team win."

Sergio Rodriguez led the Hawks in receiving with four grabs for 125 yards and a touchdown.

Pleasant Grove's Bruce Garrett racked up a game-high 174 yards of rushing on 17 carries and a score. The Buckeyes defense had no answer for Garrett's rushing out on the edge.

The Hawks outscored Gilmer, 28-14, in each half. A lightning delay caused an 8 p.m. kickoff. Halftime lasted an hour and 56 minutes because of several lightning delays, and the game ended at 12:05 a.m.

Rodriguez caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Harmon to give the Hawks a 35-14 lead midway through the third quarter. The score capped a 5:20 drive that covered 81 yards over eight plays.

The Black Hawk defense stopped Gilmer on a fourth down to give the Pleasant Grove offense the ball back.

On the next Buckeye possession, quarterback Mason Hurt hit Tra Fluellen on a 56-yard score to make it 35-20 late in the third.

James Wiggins scored a 1-yard touchdown to put the Hawks up by 22 points, 42-20.

After stopping Gilmer on a fourth down on the ensuing possession, Braden Hlavinka caught a 29-yard pass from Harmon for a TD. Hlavinka's touchdown padded Pleasant Grove's lead, 49-20.

Gilmer mishandled the kickoff, and Will Cullipher recovered at the Buckeyes' 11-yard line.

Brett Walker caught a 5-yard TD pass from Harmon to put Pleasant Grove up for good, 56-20.

Gilmer scored on a 16-yard pass and converted a 2-point conversion to make the final score 56-28.

Bladen Reaves had a 12-yard touchdown reception from Harmon for the Hawks' first score of the game. The touchdown capped a 62-yard, five-play drive in 1:16.

Ryan Pickelman had a 39-yard reception during Pleasant Grove's first TD drive.

Pickelman snagged a 9-yard touchdown pass from Harmon to give the Hawks a 14-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first. Pickelman's grab capped a 72-yard, nine-play drive in 4:02.

Gilmer responded early in the second quarter when Bran Webb scored from a yard out to make it a 7-point game.

James Wiggins broke free and rushed 23 yards to the end zone to put the Hawks up 21-7.

Darryl Bush plunged into paydirt on a 1-yard run to inch the Buckeyes closer, 21-14.

Garrett got to the edge and scored a touchdown on a 16-yard run to give Pleasant Grove a 28-14 lead at the half.

Gilmer drove down to the Hawks' 28-yard line at the end of the second quarter but time expired.

Harmon threw for 160 yards in the first half on 6-of-7 passing and two touchdowns. Garrett totaled 85 yards on 13 carries for the Hawks in the first half (6.5 yards per carry average).

Pleasant Grove totaled 315 yards of offense in the first half, while the Buckeyes had 245 yards.

Dillon Williams, the Hawks kicker, was a perfect 8 for 8 on PATs.

Pleasant Grove (11-2) takes on Pittsburg (10-3) in the Class 4A, Division II Regional Finals on Friday with an 8:30 p.m. kickoff at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

#

Gilmer 0 14 6 8 - 28

Pleasant Grove 14 14 7 21 - 56

First Quarter

PG-Bladen Reaves 12 pass from Ben Harmon (Dillon Williams kick), 8:20

PG-Ryan Pickelman 9 pass from Harmon (Williams kick), 2:18

Second Quarter

GIL-Bran Webb 1 run (Adan Ibarra kick), 11:33

PG-James Wiggins 23 run (Williams kick), 9:27

GIL-Darryl Bush 1 run (Ibarra kick), 6:32

PG-Bruce Garrett 16 run (Williams kick), 4:47

Third Quarter

PG-Sergio Rodriguez 10 pass from Harmon (Williams kick), 6:20

GIL-Tra Fluellen 56 pass from Mason Hurt (kick failed), 2:19

Fourth Quarter

PG-Wiggins 1 run (Williams kick), 8:41

PG-Braden Hlavinka 29 pass from Harmon (Williams kick), 5:24

PG-Brett Walker 5 pass from Harmon (Williams kick), 3:39

GIL-T. Fluellen 16 pass from Hurt (Hurt pass to Brandon Tennison) , 1:55

=GIL=PG

First Downs=13=20

Yards Rushing=22-142=47-277

Yards Passing=191=266

Passes A-C-I=36-18-1=14-12-0

Fumbles-Lost=0-0=1-0

Penalties=7-70=8-70

Punts-Avg.=2-37.0=4-26.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Gilmer, Webb 10-66, Hurt 1-2, Bush 8-39, Christian Fluellen 1-19, DJ Shead 1-16. Pleasant Grove, Garrett 17-174, Wiggins 17-82, Hlavinka 7-28, Harmon 2-14, Will Cullipher 2-3, team 2-(minus 24).

PASSING-Gilmer, Hurt 18-36-1-191. Pleasant Grove, Harmon 12-14-0-266.

RECEIVING-Gilmer, Dylan Fluellen 4-59, C. Fluellen 2-(minus 4), Webb 6-68, DJ Shead 1-10, Tra Fluellen 5-123, Luke Metzel 1-3. Pleasant Grove, Pickelman 3-65, Reaves 1-12, Garrett 1-22, Rodriguez 4-125, Brett Walker 2-13, Hlavinka 1-29.

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