FRISCO, Texas-Pleasant Grove junior running back Bruce Garrett raced 49 yards for the finishing score, and the Hawks reached the Class 4A, Division II state semifinals and claimed the Region II-4A, Division II title.
PG rolled up 366 yards of offense with 296 coming on the ground, led by Garrett's 218 yards and three touchdowns during a 44-41 win over Pittsburg Friday at the Ford Center at the Star.
The Hawks (12-2) face Iowa Park (9-5) in a state semifinal game, set for 7:30 p.m. next Friday back at the Ford Center at the Star.
"I'm thankful for our community and how much they support us," Pleasant Grove head coach Josh Gibson said. "They travelled well in this rain and this weather to be here. They're unbelievable.
"I couldn't be more proud of our kids. We have 10 playoff wins in the last two years. To do that with only two returning starters on offense and three back on defense, that's a special group of kids; it's turned into a special program because of kids like that."
Garrett's 49-yard jaunt down the right sideline and in front of the PG bench drove the final nail home for the Pirates' season at 10-4.
Pleasant Grove quarterback Ben Harmon threw for a touchdown and rushed for another.
Pitt QB Jaylon Jimmerson paced the offense and he also had two interceptions on defense, matched by Hawk defender Tyler Kelley, who returned one for a pick-6. Jimmerson connected on 11 of 18 passes for 228 yards and a TD, caught a score and ran for two more.
Pitt had 385 yards of total offense with 141 coming on its final two scoring drives, sandwiched around Garrett's 49-yard run.
Desmond Allen scored on a 1-yard rush after rumbling 30 yards following Jimmerson's second interception of the game. Allen's TD gave Pittsburg a 21-20 lead with 10:39 left in the third quarter.
The Hawks responded with a 7-play, 54-yard scoring drive, capped by Harmon's 1-yard plunge with 7:32 left in the third.
Pleasant Grove's defense forced a three-and-out, and Garrett raced 27 yards to paydirt on fourth-and-4 with 42 seconds left. Dillon Williams' PAT made it 34-21.
Jimmerson scored with 10:17 on a 12-yard run, and the Hawks put together a time-consuming 12-play drive capped by Williams' 22-yard field goal, putting Pleasant Grove up 37-28 with 3:19 remaining.
Three plays later, Griffin took a pass 68 yards to the end zone to cut the PG lead to 37-35.
Jimmerson intercepted a pass on the Hawks' fifth offensive snap of the game, setting up the Pirates at the PG 36. It took three plays for Pittsburg to capitalize, Jimmerson hitting Burns for a 29-yard touchdown on the third play of the Pirates' second possession.
Pitt forced a three-and-out, and Jimmerson broke free for a 45-yard jaunt to the end zone with 27 seconds left in the first quarter. Giovanny Rojas' PAT made it 14-0 Pirates.
It was the second quarter before the Hawks picked up their initial rushing first down, Garrett racing 10 yards on the first play of the second quarter. Harmon scrambled for 13 yards on the next snap, and that moved the ball across midfield.
"We've had a slow start a couple times this year, and you've got to give PIttsburg a lot of credit because that's how good they are," Gibson said. "Our game started similarly to our previous meeting (in district play).
"Our kids were resilient; it took a little bit of time but we got our wings underneath us and took off again."
On the 10th play of the drive, Garrett found a seam off left tackle for a 14-yard TD with 8:44left in the first half.
The Hawks forced a three-and-out by Pittsburg, and the snap on the punt was mishandled, leading to a pass attempt which was picked off by Kelley.
On the sixth play, Harmon hit Jackson Cobb deep for a 43-yard touchdown, but the extra-point kick attempt was snapped past the holder, leaving the Pirates ahead 14-13 with 4:13 left.
Kelley came up with his second interception of the half, snagging a pass at the Pitt 47 and returning it for a go-ahead score with 2:36 left before halftime.
"I thought they were getting tired; we had ran through them on the drive before (Kelley's interception return)," Gibson said. "We wanted to try to press it and put some pressure on them, and that carries over into halftime.
"We didn't convert, but we had momentum."
The Hawks remained up 20-14 heading into the locker room. PG had 158 yards of offense before halftime, and the Pirates had 149.
In the Region I-4A, Division II final/state quarterfinal game, Iowa Park rallied from a 28-17 deficit to beat Glen Rose, 31-28, scoring the winning TD with eight seconds left on Trent Green's quarterback keeper. Green also threw a touchdown with 4:01 left, caught the ensuing 2-point conversion, and then Iowa Park recovered an on-sides kick to set up the game-winning drive, leaving just three seconds on the game clock for Glen Rose.
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Pleasant Grove 0 20 14 10 - 44
Pittsburg 14 0 7 20 - 41
First Quarter
PITT-Keontae Burns 29 pass from Jaylon Kimmerson (Giovanny Rojas kick), 3:59.
PITT-Jimmerson 45 run (Rojas kick), 0:27.
Second Quarter
PG-Bruce Garrett 14 run (Dillon Williams kick), 8:44.
PG-Jackson Cobb 43 pass from Ben Harmon (run failed), 4:13.
PG-Tyler Kelley 47 interception return (Williams kick), 2:36.
Third Quarter
PITT-Demond Allen 1 run (Rojas kick), 10:39.
PG-Harmon 1 run (Williams kick), 7:32.
PG-Garrett 27 run (Williams kick), 0:42.
Fourth Quarter
PITT-Jimmerson 12 run (Rojas kick), 10:17.
PG-Williams 22 FG, 3:19.
PITT-Keithlen Griffin 68 pass from Jimmerson (Rojas kick), 2:38.
PG-Garrett 49 run (Williams kick), 1:10.
PITT-Jimmerson 11 pass from Burns (pass failed), 0:12.
=PG=Pitt
First Downs=20=14
Yards Rushing=49-296=22-146
Yards Passing=70=239
Passes A-C-I=10-3-2=19-12-2
Fumbles-Lost=1-0=1-0
Penalties=4-25=6-60
Punts-Avg.=2-41.5=3-34.3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Pleasant Grove, Garrett 26-218, James Wiggins 13-49, Harmon 7-24, Will Cullipher 1-1, Ryan PIckelman 2-5. Pittsburg, Allen 15-83, Jimmerson 7-63.
PASSING-Pleasant Grove, Harmon 3-10-2-70. Pittsburg, Jimmerson 11-18-2-228, Burns 1-1-0-11.
RECEIVING-Pleasant Grove, Cobb 2-56, Dylan Hopkins 1-14. Pittsburg, Burns 5-113, Griffin 5-102, Braydon Pyron 1-13, Jimmerson 1-11.