Freshman Hawks Stifle Panther Offense, 21-8

GERONIMO, Texas – “2 and 0” were the cries being heard from Panther Stadium Thursday night as the Canyon Lake Freshmen Hawks improved to 2-0 in district play and 3-3 on the season after beating the Navarro Panthers 21-8.

From the opening kick the Hawks made play after play on defense to stymie the normally methodical yet effective Panther offense as Navarro was only able to rack up 95 yards of total offense in the game.

“We read our keys and did what we talked about in practice for the past two weeks,” coach Luke Chapman said after the game. “Credit to the kids for taking coaching and executing on the field. We did a great job of being physical and each man doing his job.”

After stifling the Navarro offense in the first quarter, the Canyon Lake special teams and offense decided to get in on the action as defensive tackle Anthony White blocked a punt deep in Panther territory that set up a 2 yard touchdown run by quarterback Skylar Tschoepe early in the 2nd quarter.

The score remained 6-0 until midway through the 3rd when Tschoepe connected with Brody Cowan on a 15 yard touchdown pass to put the Hawks up 14-0 after the 2-point conversion.

For Cowan, who has seen limited action this season, it was his first catch on the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It feels really good to help out the team, especially in a tight ballgame,” Cowan said. “There’s nothing like the glory of getting a touchdown.”

The defense continued to get stops in the 2nd half, including several on 4th down, behind great defensive line play by Zach Moss, Dallas Sandau, Anthony White and Troy Sternberg.

To put the game out of reach for good, the Hawks tacked on a 3rd score midway through the 4th quarter on a 2 yard run by fullback Colton Avey. Avey, a converted quarterback, finished the evening with 2 receptions for 22 yards to go along with his late score.

Navarro was finally able to crack the Hawk defensive code for their only score with just under three minutes left when the game was well out of reach.

“It was a good, hard-fought game that we needed to win,” coach Brian Owens said. “Early in the season we probably would have lost a game like this. “It just goes to show how far we have come and that all of our hard work has paid off.”

The Hawks have now won three in a row and look to continue their winning ways next Thursday night vs. the Wimberley Texans.