Canyon Lake Takes Badgers to Cleaners, 42-34
Micah St. John enjoying some room to run in win over Badgers (photo by mjrphotog.com)
Canyon Lake took the Badgers to the cleaners in their Thursday night win, 42-34. As there were many flags flying on this night with both squads totaling 20 penalties which added up to 200 yards.
Lampasas won this penalty battle after finishing with 115 yards of step offs with personal foul infractions out the wazoo.
The Hawks controlled the line of scrimmage which helped with long drives and the special teams were special in this win, stopping a 2 game skid as CL prepares for a 6A team in Austin next Thursday.
“The special teams won this game by giving CL that extra possession,” Head Coach Charlie Drum started. “The offensive line came out and helped control this game and that helped us control the clock and score in the red zone.”
Canyon Lake scored first and never gave Lampasas a chance for a lead while rushing for 361 yards and having
Horseshoe Grill says Go Hawks
Tanner Faris and Austin Brennan both finish over 100 yards on the ground. That was how well the offensive line responded after a tough loss to Wimberley last week.
Micah St. John finished with a respectable 75 yards getting those tough runs up the middle and keeping the clock moving and yardage churning.
Junior Guard Joseph Crisp was one of many lineman that plowed enough room for the Hawk runners.
“We had to win and get momentum before district starts,” Crisp said. “We wanted to give it to them and we still made it through.”
On what type of game it was in the trenches with all the infractions, “They were dirty….but we took them to the cleaners,” Crisp said with crispness.
That total yardage by the teams could also be tabulated by subtracting the penalty yards and those 15 yard infractions which certainly helped douse the Badgers in this game.
Canyon Lake took 11 plays to drive 75 yards and their first score when Faris scored from 34 yards out on his way to 152 total yards rushing on the night.
QB Ben Fulton has all day for pass
This turned out to be what was expected, as the Badgers answered in moving 60 yards as QB Cohen Cockburn completed all 7 of his passes on the drive.
CL would fumble on their next possession losing the ball on their own 37 yard line and putting the defense on the defense. One play later another fumble, this time by Lampasas and with two consecutive fumbles that gave the ball back to the Hawks with no harm done and CL dodging a bullet in that exchange.
Faris would score his 2nd of 4 touchdowns on this next drive from 9 yards out and a 7 point Hawk lead, 14-7.
CL’s defense would deny a Badger 4th down play on their next possession and that proved to be a pivotable stop giving CL another chance for a score and some separation.
“We just wanted to contain the outside and get sacks and not let them get around us,” Defensive End Dylan Compton said.
Ben Fulton would start this drive with a pass which surprised Comal County and that 24 yard play to Brennan set the stage for more runs but now Lampasas would be backing off if another Hawk pass might be called.
Faris was called on again for his 3rd score of the night going in around the end from 5 yards out and a 2 score lead, 21-7.
There was still plenty of time in the second quarter and Lampasas offense would step into gear and move 80 yards with a little over one minute in the half.
Defensive stops was not a common occurrence as neither team had a punt.
Lampasas CL Hawks Possessions 8 9 Resulting in a TD 5 6 Stops by downs 1 1 Stops by a Half/Game 1 1 Stops by Turnover 1 1
So, with this game settling into a whoever has the ball last might win game, another note was having Lampasas a chance to start with the ball in the 2nd half to tie the score.
CL had other plans as the 2nd half started with an onside kick that was perfect and a Hawk recovery took that possession from the Badgers which helped in keeping distance throughout the second stanza.
Hit Man says Hit a Badger
“I just started doing that type of kick in the warm-ups today,” Compton recalled. This onside kick was something not seen often as the kicked ball went into the air for over 15 feet and allowed Parker Reno to camp under to battle for possession.
“They (the coaches) signal it in and it turned out to be huge because we won by that one possession and it was a game changer,” Compton finished like his kick as the Hawks celebrated another special team victory.
Another score by Faris to start the 2nd half and now a 28-14 lead was a huge event in capitalizing on scoring and getting that two touchdown lead back in gear.
“We switched our formations and they did not adjust to what we were doing at half-time,” Faris said. “The line did a great job.”
Lampasas would not be finished as this passing offense would rack up 329 yards through the air and this touchdown would leave almost 4 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter. Another item was a missed extra point by the Badgers (special teams).
The Hawks were not finished either with another score when Brennan would rush from 2 yards out. Another key for this drive was having consecutive runs of 21 and 16 yards by Faris and Brennan helping to set up another score and a 15 point lead, 35-20 just as the 4th quarter was getting started.
This ping-pong match went advantage Lampasas on their next drive and score but the extra point kick was off again which would leave the visitors needing two scores for a chance of victory.
The Badgers were not the cleanest of teams as this bunch finished 5 personal foul penalties during the game. On CL’s next drive a 24 yard run by Faris had a 15 yard penalty tacked on moving the ball down to Lampasas’ 23 yard line.
From there Canyon Lake would score in 6 plays as Brennan scored his second touchdown on this night and a, 42-26 Hawk lead.
Tanner Faris fighting for first down
The Lamp was not turned off yet, as you guessed it, a 3 play 58 yard drive that took only 1 minute off the clock and after a 2 point conversion this contest was down to an 8 point Hawk lead and a game that would be back on the ropes.
Canyon Lake drove back down to the Badger 2 yard line but stalled and with 0:48 seconds left to play, and Lampasas would go back to work.
On ten plays in 48 seconds and moving the ball down to CL’s 31 yard line, the Badgers had one last throw into the end-zone but the ball fell to the ground preserving a Hawk win.
With the 361 rushing yards the Hawk’s rushing trio keep inching up the ranks for Canyon Lake’s rushing records.
All-Time Rushing Leaders name carries yards ave. td last year Zach Henshaw 724 4363 6.0 47 2011 Josh DeVries 297 2108 7.1 23 2014 Hayden Dubois 435 1973 4.5 27 2014 Eduardo Covarrubias 295 1711 5.8 12 2012 McGuire Johnson 213 1337 6.3 11 2013 Tanner Faris 171 1103 6.5 13 2017 Robert Woods 195 943 4.8 8 2015 Austin Brennan 130 894 6.9 13 2016 Micah St. John 169 857 5.1 9 2017 Casey Coffee 81 404 5.0 2 2012
A lot of yards gained and this time CL would right their ship and get ready for an Akins team that was off this week.
Fulton continues to have good touch on his passes while also scurrying for 30 rushing yards and that too has been a key ingredient during the first half of this season.
Dave’s Dirtworks says throw some Dirt on Badgers
On how well the offensive line performed, QB Fulton responded, “For sure, they were not getting a big push and we were just lowering our shoulder type of runs for what we call ‘Big-Boy-Yards.”
“We did not need to pass in the second half, but when we needed to take a big shot (pass) then we executed the pass,” Fulton handed off. “Our offense came out well prepared.”
With a lot of dirt on the turf, CL took the Badgers to the Ranger Cleaners and left the field with a well deserved victory.
“We will work harder in practice and with a change of attitude we will be more excited for next week,” Faris said like he was at the carnival.
Hawk Game Tidbits
√ Tanner Faris passed the 1000 yard plateau.
√ CL received two pass interference calls which has not happened since QB Ross Wagliardo during the 2009 season.
√ With the 34 points scored by Lampasas they tied the 34 by Sealy for most points scored in a Hawk victory.
√ The combined 76 pts scored was the 9th most in a Hawk contest. Marion game last yr teams combined for 105 pts.
√ CL is averaging 33.2 pts for 2nd place behind the 2011 season when CL finished that season with a 35.3 ave.
√ With the 27 first downs Canyon Lake still trails last year’s game with Marion when the Hawks finished with 28.
√ Canyon Lake has a record of 17-4 when hitting the 20 or more first down marker.
√ This was the 3rd game that had the combination of Faris and Brennan both with over 100 yards rushing.
Go Hawks!!
1 2 3 4 Final Lampasas 7 7 6 14 34 CL Hawks 7 14 7 14 42 Scoring Summary: CL-Tanner Faris 34 yards (Trenton Lorett kick), 6:59, 1st LB-Brandon Pierino 20 yard pass from Cohen Cockburn (Jared Salazar kick), 2:53, 1st CL-Tanner Faris 9 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 10:29, 2nd CL-Tanner Faris 5 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 4:36, 2nd LB-Jason Murphy 25 yard pass from Cockburn (Jared Salazar kick), 1:31, 2nd CL-Tanner Faris 4 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 8:47, 3rd LB-Brandon Pierino 16 yard pass from Harrison Gillespie (kick failed), 3:41, 3rd CL-Austin Brennan 3 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 11:41, 4th LB-Nathan Keese 2 yard pass from Gillespie (kick failed), 9:17, 4th CL-Austin Brennan 2 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 5:24, 4th LB-Nathan Keese 4 yard pass from Gillispie (Sean Williams pass from Gillespie), 4:07, 4th Game Stats Badgers Hawks Total Yards 415 407 First Downs 23 27 Rush/Yards 20/86 55/361 Comp/Att/Int 25/36/0 3/3/0 Passing Yards 329 46 Punts/Average 0/0 0/0 Fumbles/Lost 1/1 2/1 Penalties-Yards 10-115 10-85 TOP 18:28 29:32 Passing Comp Att Pct Yds Int TD Ben Fulton 3 3 1.000 46 0 0 Rushing Att Yds Ave Lg TD Tanner Faris 17 152 8.9 34 4 Austin Brennan 18 102 5.7 21 2 Micah St. John 14 75 5.4 17 0 Ben Fulton 5 30 6.0 11 0 Hayden Reed 1 2 2.0 2 0 Receiving No Yds Ave Lg TD Austin Brennan 1 24 24.0 24 0 Tanner Faris 2 22 11.0 11 0
