CL Hawks Outrun Wolves in Win, 38-35

                                      A game of inches in Hawk’s win over Davenport, 38-35.
(photo by Dan Reed Photography https://www.danreedphotography.com)

Canyon Lake scored for the first time in their opening period and continued to pressure a previous undefeated Davenport team with a Hawk win and tied atop District 13-4A with Lampasas, 2-0.

                    Way to GO HAWKS!!

The Lake drove 75 yards on 7 plays as Helijah Johnson started his quest for a 200 yard night (277) gaining 58 of that real estate with more to come, 7-0.

Davenport, who was averaging, 43 points per contest did not wait around and responded with an impressive 63 yard jaunt that had a 33 yard pass that helped catapult this scoring machine team who was successful in going for two and took an early lead, 8-7 with still 6:44 remaining on the opening 12 minutes.

CL regained the lead when Jayden Van Ausdall was able to kick his first field goal from 22 yards that put the Hawks back in front, 10-8.

This boxing match continued as these Wolves hit back traveling 61 yards on 5 plays which 4 being passes and retaking the advantage, 14-10.

Both teams took a breather before the Hawks got in the end-zone again….this time after two consecutive pass plays with QB Hunter Anderson going to his brother for an 8 yard pass that converted a 4th down and then a quick snap and scoring on a 26 yard pass to Chase Anderson right up the gut that had Canyon Lake back in front, 16-14.

                     Let’s Go Hawks!!

Both teams exchanged fumbles and then Davenport had a pass for 77 yards to get the lead back in this ping-pong affair, 21-16.

You guessed it, CL hit back this time when Hunter Anderson found Justin Abbott for a 10 yarder which gave the Hawks a halftime lead, 23-21.

The lead exchanged 7 times during that first half and a 2 point lead for Canyon Lake.

The 2nd half started the same way, this time, Davenport took the lead back, 28-23 with still over 8 minutes remains in that 3rd quarter.

                    Let’s GO HAWKS!!

Yes, CL would go ahead and stay in front on their next scoring drive which was highlighted with a 42 yard Johnson run and then James Garza put the finishing touches scoring from one yard out, 31-28 Hawks.

Then a Hawk Defensive stop that allowed Canyon Lake to make this a two score advantage starting this drive late in the 3rd quarter and scoring with 9:56 remaining in that final period.

Chevy Standifer first play run for 9 yards allowed CL to convert a first down to start this scoring drive that helped wipe-out a Hawks 5 yard penalty.

Garza was the driving force on this drive as he chugged his way on 3 consecutive runs that went 29 yards and put the Hawks close enough for a Hunter Anderson 2 yard sneak and 10 point lead, 38-28.

Davenport would score one more time but not getting an onside kick spelled doom for a team that allowed CL’s offense to churn out a lofty 8.4 yards per snap as the the clock would become a good friend for the home team.

Oh yeah, that last drive did have some drama when Canyon Lake was looking at a 4th down and needing 8 yards to have a chance to run the clock.

The ball was on the Wolves 43 yard line and still plenty of time for a score for a win or a field goal try to go into overtime.

A time-out had both teams strategizing and the Hawks reached deep into their bag of tricks when Hunter Anderson was back in punt formation and approached the ball to the right side of the field before looking to the visitors side of the field to find a wide open Hayden Baker for a pass and catch for 18 yards to put a final dagger into these Wolves giving a loss to this explosive team.

Helijah Johnson & Cory Bowers taking it all in after satisfying win over Davenport, 38-35.

Game-Set-Match and now the Hawks will go on the road to Burnet next Friday to continue their chance to stay undefeated atop District 13-4A along with Lampasas Badgers.

Head Coach Charley Drum recalling how that 4th down call was made:
“We had been working on that for a couple of weeks and it helped because we were on the 40 (yard line) and if we kicked the ball into the end zone then they would get the ball on the 20 so the positives out weighed the negatives where it came down to losing 20 yards of field position or trying to ice the game.”

Coach Drum continued, “Our kids executed it great and that makes it easier to call.”

Was there any apprehension at all? “Yes, there always is bit but Coach Greene mentioned it and we just did not want to have an offense like they had to have another chance.”

On Helijah Johnson’s 277 yards rushing, “He’s a beast and he helps us on defense and he is just an all-round player and that was one of the best performances in Canyon Lake’s history on the ground game.”

Way to GO HAWKS!!

Interviews with the following Hawks on Twitter & Instagram:
Hunter Anderson
Helijah Johnson
Hayden Baker
Cory Bowers
Caden Rodriguez

            1  2  3  4  Final
Davenport  14  7  7  7  35
CL Hawks   10 13  8  7  38
Scoring Summary:
CL-Helijah Johnson 29 yard run (Jayden Van Ausdall kick), 9:34, 1st
DW- Wolves run 5 yards (run good), 6:44, 1st
CL-Jayden Van Ausdall 22 yard field goal, 2:56, 1st
DW-Wolves pass for 20 yards (run failed), 1:36, 1st
CL-Chase Anderson 26 yard pass from Hunter Anderson (pat failed), 2nd
DW-Wolves 77 yard pass (kick good), 5:30, 2nd
CL-Justin Abbott 10 yard pass from Hunter Anderson (Van Ausdall kick), 2:00, 2nd
DW-Wolves 2 yard run (kick good), 8:31, 3rd
CL-James Garza 1 yard run (Helijah run), 5:09, 3rd
CL-Hunter Anderson 2 yard run (Van Ausdall kick), 9:56, 4th
DW-Wolves 1 yard run (kick good), 3:19, 4th

Team Stats        Wolves    Hawks
Total Yards       364       542
First Downs       17        27
Rush/Yards        27/91     56/444
Comp/Att/Int      20/25/1   6/7/0
Passing Yards     273       98
Punts/Average     1/31.0    0/0
Fumbles/Lost      3/2       3/2
Penalties-Yards   4-17      7-40

Passing           Comp  Att  Pct  Yds   Int  TD
Hunter Anderson   6     7   .857   98   0    2

Rushing           Att  Yds   Ave   Lg   TD
Helijah Johnson   21   277  13.2   47   1
James Garza       11    79   7.2   21   1
Hunter Anderson    9    37   4.1   12   1
Justin Abbott      8    35   4.4   27   0
Chevy Standifer    3    11   3.7    9   0
Chase Anderson     4     5   1.2    5   0
Totals            56   444   7.9   47   3

Receiving         No   Yds   Ave   Lg   TD
Chase Anderson     2   34   17.0   26   1
AJ Acosta          1   26   26.0   26   0
Hayden Baker       1   18   18.0   18   0
James Garza        1   10   10.0   10   0
Justin Abbott      1   10   10.0   10   1
Totals             6   98   16.3   26   2