Hawks’ strong start not enough to disrupt Allen’s winning streak
HEBRON– All the attention was on Kyler Murray Friday night, but his performance was mediocre at best in Allen’s 44-10 drubbing of the Hawks.
David Feliciano, the Eagles’ running back, was the real star of the game, running for 128 yards on 10 attempts with two touchdowns. He consistently gashed the Hawks’ porous run defense for big gains. His touchdowns were 48 and 46-yards long, respectively, exposing the defense’s tendency to give up the big play.
Murray threw for a meager 170 yards, and completed only one pass that was over 20 yards. His mobility, however, provided problems all night. Many times it looked like the Hawks were going to get a sack, but Murray was able to constantly get out of trouble and keep the drive alive. With the Hawk offense unable to move the ball after their first drive, the defense became more and more fatigued as they were forced to re-enter the field after little rest. This opened up the run game for the Eagles in the second half.
After the opening touchdown drive, the offense led by new starting quarterback Richard Dodd sputtered. Running back Angelo Garbutt was held to 36 yards on 15 attempts, a disappointing 2.4 yards-per-carry. The entire team rushed for only 155 yards, more than a 100 yards below their average. Dodd was an efficient 5-for-9 passing-wise, but it all added up to only 41 yards through the air.
One bright spot for the Hawks was the large improvement of their special teams. After the defense forced Allen to punt on their first series (a big accomplishment in itself), they blocked the ensuing punt, giving the offense great field position on the 40-yard line. Once Angelo Garbutt scored later that drive, the kickoff team did a crazy, yet successful, onside kick that is going viral on social media. To top things off, kicker Kyler Terry made his first field goal of the year from 44-yards out, a real confidence boost for him.
If the Hawks start off the game the way they did against Allen, then they should come out with an easy victory against Flower Mound next week. The Jaguars are 0-5 in district and just 1-6 overall. There isn’t an easier team in the district to get a victory against, and the Hawks now have all the right pieces in place to get their first win.
Senior Matthew Rutherford is the sports editor, and this is his third year on staff. He enjoys playing almost any sport and is also very sarcastic, which...
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