Hawks throttle Henderson

HENDERSON, Texas - Many different players stepped up big.

Pleasant Grove (2-0) racked up 285 yards rushing as it rolled past Henderson, 40-7, Friday night at Lion Stadium.

"To put up 40 points on a team that shut out Whitehouse and limited them to 74 yards is huge," Hawks' head coach Josh Gibson said. "To have a dominating performance on defense after their first drive is huge and a big step.

"The fact that we have so many guys running the football is big. I am proud of how many kids were playing and how many were stepping up to take care of business. We played most every kid on our roster."

The Black Hawk defense only allowed 68 rushing yards out of a Lions' total of 196 yards. Eight different Hawks carried the ball at least once.

Bruce Garrett led Pleasant Grove in rushing with 81 yards on 14 carries. Sergio Rodriguez had two catches for 84 yards and a touchdown for the Hawks. PG tallied 20 first downs to just nine for the Lions (1-1).

Pleasant Grove's KJ Hicks found the far left side of the end zone from 8 yards out on the first drive of the game, and the Hawks took an early 7-0 lead with 7:20 left in the first quarter.

Henderson responded with a 3-yard touchdown run by Caleb Medford to knot the game at 7-all.

Riley Durmon broke up a long Medford pass, and Landon Jackson sacked Medford on the next play to force a Lions' punt late in the first period.

The Hawks set up at Henderson's 37-yard line after the punt took a PG bounce.

Pleasant Grove drove to the Lions' 14-yard line, but a chop block took the ball back to the 25-yard line. On third down, the Hawks fumbled, and Henderson recovered at their 31-yard line.

Ben Harmon punched the ball in from the 1-yard line to put the Hawks up, 14-7, with 5:05 left in the second quarter.

Jackson recovered a fumble to put Pleasant Grove in business at the Lions' 13-yard line with 4:49 left until the half.

After a 10-yard run by Shayne Nelson, Harmon scored from 3 yards out to pad PG's lead, 20-7.

The Hawks' try for two points failed, but PG still took a 13-point lead into halftime. Pleasant Grove had 12 first-half first downs compared to just six for Henderson.

The third quarter was a nip-and-tuck affair with no scoring. The Hawks stopped a fake punt run attempt late in the third and took over on the Lions' 24-yard line.

Nick Martin's 7-yard touchdown run capitalized the fake punt stop with 11:55 left in the game. The extra point was good, and Pleasant Groove padded its lead to 27-7.

Durmon made an interception for the Hawks in the fourth.

Sergio Rodriguez caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Harmon to give Pleasant Grove a 33-7 advantage with 8:29 left in the game. It was the first Hawk play after Durmon's pick.

Grayson Taylor caught a 42-yard TD pass from Jalen Woodside to cement the win with 3:02 remaining in the game. The score and extra point gave Pleasant Grove a 33-point lead, 40-7.

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