CL Hawks Hang On in Win over Burnet, 28-21
Canyon Lake Hawks getting that those first downs for clinching the win!!
Canyon Lake held on for their chance to play in this year’s post-season by using their dominate first half lead of 22 points to stave off a ravage Bulldog tell the end, 28-21.
Let’s Go Hawks!!
“This was a scrappy group,” Head Coach Charley Drum said. “They got some momentum and we responded by staying calm and poised….every since that Fredericksburg game we have reminded them that this game will always had some highs and lows.”
Canyon Lake started the scoring with a pass from Hunter Anderson to Helijah Johnson which started the action that was quickly followed with a 3 yard touchdown run for James Bates.
Then Adrian Duque had the first pick-six since a Hawk playoff game against Waco LaVega.
Duque filled the gap and took the Burnet pass back 15 yards untouched for 21 point lead.
“He threw it right at me,” Duque said matter of factly. This score would turn out to be the 7 points needed for a win. “Yeah, it was easy money and it was crazy.”
This contest was a capsule of the season with a dominating first half that had CL winning all phases against what looked to be a hapless Burnet squad just playing out their season.
That soon changed as soon as the 2nd half kick-off started an improbable comeback that continued till the end with two touchdowns and still having over 8 minutes remaining during that last quarter.
A tale of two halves was evident once again as The Lake finished the regular season scoring 162 points to start the game only to fizzle out in those last two periods showing a much different story scoring just 72 points.
That comes to an average of 7 points per game after halftime and then an array of circumstances come calling in the form of turnovers, penalties, and execution resulting in seeing a loss or, in this case, holding on against a team that finished their season sporting a, 3-7 record.
Now Canyon Lake will play next week against a Boerne team that won their district and will be a much tougher opponent that could make those CL 2nd half doldrums result in a loss.
This would not turn out to be a pad your stats contest with CLHS coming up empty after failing to convert 3 fourth down opportunities with two of those tries needing 3 yards or less to convert.
Let’s Go Hawk!!
A ray of hope had CL with 3 first downs on their final, run out the clock series, resulting in clinching the playoffs for their 9th straight year.
Canyon Lake finished with 23 first downs while racking 14 of those move the chain times during the first half. It was the first time this season the Hawks were able to reach that metric this year.
CL reached a 20 first down threshold 7 times last season with the last game against La Vernia securing 26 in that Bi-District win.
An important part of a game when it is attached to a school that comes from the slot-t family is controlling the clock. By reaching the 20 or more mark shows that the running game is working and allowing that time of possession to keep opponents from scoring.
That statistic was minimized this campaign by a Hawk Defense that has tipped the scale for a 6 win season. CL’s defense gave up 10 points more last year and that has turned out to be a strength.
After a failed 4th down conversion for CL on what would be the Bulldog’s final possession had the Hawk Defense re-emerge after the Bulldogs completed their first down play for 5 yards putting Burnet on the Hawk’s 47 yard line. Giving signs that these Bulldogs might continue their 2nd half momentum for a tying score.
But that next play had Duque and Kyler Herber with a tackle for a 2 yard loss setting up 7 yards needed for a chance to continue this drive.
Let’s Go Hawks!
Herber would come up big again tackling the Burnet QB for a one yard loss forcing a punt and stopping the momentum that would jump to the offensive side of the ball for a chance to run out the clock.
Shayne Moss started this drive for the playoffs going 5 yards, but another penalty had the Hawks needing 15 yards on a 2nd down. Then an improbable pass to Jeremy Greene covering 34 yards converted a first down at midfield.
Then Hunter Anderson would gain 11 yards to the Bulldog 40 yard line and the clock would become CL’s friend.
That same offense that dominated in the first half had finally awakened from it’s slumber as Johnson finished the game for an 11 yard run to the Burnet 24 yard line.
One last play said it all with a Bates carry that had Hunter Anderson giving a push for good measure to seal the first down and game for a date with Boerne next.
Adrian Duque and Matthew Soza part of CL’s tough Defense!!
Boerne played some common opponents for comparison and will show that this battle favors the Greyhounds and will need a Hawk team that will have a complete 4 quarter effort.
Greyhounds lost to Alamo Heights but by only 4 points, 34-30. Hawks? Lost 38-21
Greyhounds beat Fredericksburg, 33-17. Hawks? Lost 31-28
There were some key injuries sustained for CL in this Burnet win and getting those players back will be welcomed especially for the Special Team unit.
Canyon Lake has won as a 4th seed before and playing in this tough district might pave a way for more football into November.
Way to Go Hawks and Beat the Greyhounds!!
QUOTES:
Adrian Duque on what the team will need to do for first playoff contest: “We will need another good week of practice and this time of the year you wake up early every morning.”
Matthew Soza on his thoughts during the 4th period with Burnet having a chance to score to tie the game, “We knew we had to step it up and keep our heads up. We (our defense) has been good at recovering in those type of situations. But we will need to play our A game next week and keep going and play great!”
1 2 3 4 Final Burnet 0 6 8 7 21 CL Hawks 7 21 0 0 28 Scoring Summary: CL-Helijah Johnson 21 yard pass from Hunter Anderson (Dalton Stanley kick), 4:56, 1st CL-James Bates 3 yard run (Dalton Stanley kick), 10:59, 2nd CL-Adrian Duque 15 yard interception return (Dalton Stanley kick), 10:06, 2nd BB-Landon Christian 38 yard pass from Tanner O’Hair (pat failed), 3:23, 2nd CL-Hunter Anderson 4 yard run (Dalton Stanley kick), 0:40, 2nd BB-Landon Christian 43 yard pass from O’Hair (Brandon Ng pass from O’Hair), 2:53, 3rd BB-Ethan Wolfe 2 yard run (pat good), 8:23, 4th Team Stats Bulldogs Hawks Total Yards 227 422 First Downs 13 23 Rush/Yards 28/114 52/310 Comp/Att/Int 10/17/1 6/12/0 Passing Yards 113 106 Punts/Average 5/34.4 1/27.0 Fumbles/Lost 2/0 1/1 Penalties-Yards 5-60 10-90 TOP 21:29 26:31 3rd down conversions 2/8 25% 8/12 67% 4th down conversions. 1/1 100% 0/3 00% Passing Comp Att Pct Yds Int TD Hunter Anderson 5 11 .455 88 0 1 Helijah Johnson 1 1 1.000 18 0 0 Totals 6 12 .500 106 0 1 Rushing Att Yds Ave Lg TD Helijah Johnson 13 85 6.5 26 0 James Bates 16 83 5.2 12 1 Shayne Moss 10 65 6.5 16 0 Hunter Anderson 7 60 7.9 32 1 Jeremy Greene 3 13 4.3 6 0 Bade Holland 2 7 3.5 4 0 Matthew Soza 1 3 3.0 2 0 Totals 52 316 6.1 32 2 Receiving No Yds Ave Lg TD Jeremy Greene 3 67 22.3 34 0 Helijah Johnson 1 21 21.0 21 1 Chase Anderson 1 11 11.0 11 0 James Bates 1 7 7.0 7 0 Totals 6 106 17.7 34 1
