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West "comes out flat" against Hebron
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@acnpapers.com
After a quarter and a half Friday night, it appeared as though Plano West (4-4, 2-3 in district) would take a big step toward making the playoffs.
Two and a half quarters later, it was Hebron (6-2, 4-1) that had punched its ticket to the postseason as the Hawks picked up the 37-17 victory thanks to a grinding rushing attack and unrelenting defense.
"I was real proud of the way the kids played tonight," said Brian Brazil, Hebron head coach. "When we were down 10-3, it looked kind of dicey, but we dealt with the adversity and had a lot of guys step up."
"We knew coming in that West had a dang good defense," Brazil said.
Mitchell's interception led to a 28-yard field goal from junior Zakk Myer and West took a 10-3 lead with 7:15 remaining in the second quarter following a 1-yard run by Auston Anderson, who had 21 yards on seven carries.
It was all Hebron from there.
The Hawks scored the next 34 points, with 14 of them coming in a 56-second span.
After struggling throughout the first quarter, Hebron's passing attack came to life as senior Joseph Farley completed back-to-back throws, the second of which was a 16-yard scoring toss to senior Brandon Grant with 4:57 remaining. Farley ran for 80 yards on 16 carries and completed 11-of-19 passes for 146 yards with his favorite target being senior Connor Richmond, who caught four passes for 73 yards.
West wasn't as fortunate in the passing game.
The next throw from junior quarterback Travis Korry, who ran for 45 yards on 10 carries, but completed just 3-of-12 throws for 50 yards, was picked off and returned 40 yards for a touchdown by Hebron sophomore Jamal Adams. Hawks senior Deatrich Wise was also a constant source of harassment in the Wolves' backfield.
"Obviously the interceptions were big," said Mike Hughes, West head coach. "Like I said last week, we've got to take care of the ball and tonight we didn't."
Adams' pick-6 gave Hebron a 17-10 lead, but the Hawks weren't done there.
After getting pinned on their 2, the Hawks marched 98 yards on five plays and scored with 25 seconds remaining in the half. The second play of the series was a 40-yard run from junior Dezmond Wortham.
"We were just trying to get a first down and then Dez made a play," Brazil said. "And then we got a big break with that fumble."
Sophomore Braelen Evans was responsible for the fumble in question, but Hebron recovered and advanced it 19 yards with Evans quickly making amends with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Hawks a 24-10 lead at the break.
The second half was more of the same.
West's offense struggled with a punt, interception by Hebron senior Steven Lanz and punt comprising its first three series.
"Offensively, we just couldn't get much going tonight," Hughes said.
In addition to the passing game woes for West, senior running back Carlos Wiggins saw his string of 100-plus-yard rushing games stopped at five as he was held to 57 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Hebron continually prevented Wiggins from getting to the edge.
"Hebron is the first team to really shut Carlos down," Hughes said, "so give credit to them."
Hebron eventually reached 300 yards on the ground and scored touchdowns on the first two drives of the second half. Wortham, who had 138 yards on 17 carries, scored with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter to make it 31-10 and Evans, who had 64 yards on 11 carries, added a 5-yard touchdown run less than two minutes later to make it 37-10.
"Dez is a great running back; he's been dinged up at times this year, but was really able to get it going tonight," Brazil said. "And our offense line played great."
Hebron's pair of scores to open the half capped a run of 34 straight points.
"This game was really uncharacteristic for us," Hughes said. "We didn't have that fight for whatever reason and really came out flat. Hebron wanted it more than we did."
West's defense forced its third turnover of the night when senior Matt Owoseni recovered a fumble and Wiggins scored a 1-yard touchdown with 9:57 remaining to pull the Wolves within 37-17.
That would also be the final.
Now in the playoffs, Hebron returns to the field at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it hosts Allen. West will be on the road at that same time against Flower Mound.
"We have shown how we can play and compete," Hughes said. "Now we have to show we can come out and be ready every week. I'm the head coach and it is my job to get these guys ready."
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