Hawks Finish with a District 14-4A Title in Win Over Taylor, 28-14
Quarterback Benjamin Fulton (#12) rushes for a touchdown against the Taylor Ducks capping a Finished regular season and District 14-4A Title. (mjrphotog.com)
Canyon Lake Hawks Finished and won the 14-4A District Title after rushing for two touchdowns in the 4th Quarter to take the game over Taylor, 28-14.
It could be said that the Team Motto for this season was born a year ago when CL could not hold onto a lead that would have had their 1st District Championship as the Taylor Ducks took control of the later part of that contest to win an outright title.
Another year and both teams were in the same position and this go-round had a different result for the Hawk Nation with a defensive first half and just enough offense to carry Canyon Lake into the limelight for the first time in 10 years.
“They were resilient,” Head Coach Charley Drum commented on how Taylor would not go away on this night. “But our offense took control in the 4th Quarter and now we will start our next season (the playoffs) as the first seed.”
CL’s offense had their 8th best rushing night to help drain the clock and do what Slot-T teams are suppose to accomplish when taking the field. The Hawks had 71 plays compared to the Ducks 45 and out gained them by 100 yards.
The Hawk Defense held Taylor scoreless in that first half of play and if not for a lost fumble with under a minute before halftime, CL, could have had a two touchdown lead. That fumble happened with Canyon Lake knocking on the door inside the Duck’s 10 yard line.
There had been 384 plays since the last Hawk turnover in that 3rd quarter of the Giddings game.
CL struck first when a drive that started on the Ducks 13 yard line was extended on a roughing the punter penalty. A costly mistake, as the Hawks, would Finish this drive 8 plays later for their first score.
Gordon says way to go Hawks & District 14-4A Champs!!
It was an 18 play drive that started in the first quarter at the 5:38 mark and ended with 9:51 remaining in the first half. Joseph Ruiz scooted 8 yards to put the Hawks on the road to a district title.
Taylor would punt on their first three possessions as the Hawk defense had held the Ducks offense with their deepest penetration to CL’s 38 yard line.
Canyon Lake would have the ball first to start the second stanza and had a 14 point lead on just 5 plays as Tristan Chacon was the big contributor with a 61 yard run that set the Hawks up at Taylor’s 5 yard line. Micah St. John would score his first of two touchdowns on the next play signaling that this team had a chance of fulfilling their motto for the season, Finish!
Taylor would respond in getting their deepest penetration to the Hawk’s 6 yard line, but they would come up one yard short on their 4th down try turning the ball over on downs.
CL could not get traction and punted to that resilient Duck crew as this drive drew first blood for the home team with a 21 yard Ryan Gardner touchdown run on a broken pass play.
The Hawks would Punt for their next two times with the ball and another Duck attack covered 79 yards with two of those plays covering 45 and 27 yards by pass and run for the tying score. With still over 10 minutes left on the clock.
Defensive End Joseph Crisp sacks Taylor’s quarterback. mjrphotog
Canyon Lake would respond with an 11 play 75 yard drive as the Hawks had seized their lead with only one explosive play, a 20 yard pass from QB Ben Fulton to J. T. Greene. This drive had just one 3rd down to convert and that play put CL on the Duck’s 2 yard line when Fulton would cap it off running untouched from 2 yards out.
Enter the Hawk Defense by keeping the Ducks in the water on their next 3 plays that had no positive yardage for Taylor. A bull rush by the defensive line cut down Delane Hornsby with a 2 yard loss. Hornsby would finish the night with 100 yards on the ground.
A CJ Parrish sack on their next play had the Hawk Defensive Backs not allowing any place for QB Gardner to pass. To accentuate that play, the next snap was a pass, that went for another loss as that inside screen did not fool any of the players with the Finish T-Shirts.
With right at 4 minutes remaining, Canyon Lake, would FINISH.
Trenton Lorett would return the Duck punt 18 yards setting the offense on the Taylor 48 yard line.
“That punt return energized us,” Coach Drum remembered.
With a 9 yard run for Chacon who Finished with 172 combined yards for the contest the Hawk’s would send St. John up the middle converting that play for a first down.
Way to Go District Champs!!
A Chacon 6 yard run would have the Hawks on Taylor’s 30 yard line. and then Fulton pulled off one of his longest runs for the season for 25 yards to the 5 yard line. Chacon with another tough 4 yard run set up St. John to help Finish the game barreling 1 yard into the teeth of the Ducks defense for the clinching touchdown.
Yes, The ReSporter, knows that Ducks do not have teeth but if they did then a trip to the dentist might be needed as the Hawks excelled in all 3 phases of the game as the offense/defense/and special teams Finished this game.
The Hawks still have some Un-Finished work to do as Canyon Lake will suit up again, November 17th against Gatesville at John Gupton Stadium in Cedar Park, Texas.
Go Hawks!!
1 2 3 4 Final CL Hawks 0 7 7 14 28 Taylor 0 0 7 7 14 Scoring Summary: CL-Joseph Ruiz 8 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 9:51, 2nd CL-Micah St. John 5 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 9:53, 3rd TD-Ryan Gardner 21 yard run (Ryan Hanson kick), 3:40, 3rd TD-Delane Hornsby 27 yard run (Ryan Hanson kick), 10:42, 4th CL-Ben Fulton 2 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 5:54, 4th CL-Micah St. John 2 yard run (Trenton Lorett kick), 1:27, 4th Team Stats Ducks Hawks Total Yards 352 444 First Downs 11 26 Rush/Yards 25/143 65/405 Comp/Att/Int 11/20/0 3/6/0 Passing Yards 209 39 Punts/Average 5/33.2 4/35.8 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 2/1 Penalties-Yards 7-55 5-35 Passing Comp Att Pct Yards Int TD Ben Fulton 3 6 .500 39 0 0 Rushing Att Yds Ave Lg TD Tristan Chacon 20 168 8.4 61 0 Jacob Ruff 15 88 5.9 27 0 Micah St. John 17 74 4.4 8 2 Joseph Ruiz 9 35 3.9 8 1 Ben Fulton 3 27 9.0 25 1 Connor Rose 1 13 13.0 13 0 Receiving No Yds Ave Lg TD J. T. Greene 2 35 17.5 20 0 Tristan Chacon 1 4 4.0 4 0
