The Farmers and Hawks both enter week eight hanging onto playoff contention, a loss being enough to put them into a late-season playoff race with the Flower Mound Jaguars. The Farmers find themselves in Brian Brazil Stadium against the Hebron Hawks in a high stakes matchup.
After a disappointing loss against the Coppell Cowboys, the Farmers head into the final three game stretch of the regular season with a 4-3 record.
Historically, Hebron has handled the Farmers, leading the matchup with 11 wins and seven losses. Despite this, the Farmers have had the Hawks number over the last few years, coming off of four years of wins against the Hawks. After this week, the Farmers look to make it five straight.
“I think last year is [behind us], and this year [is its own year],” offensive coordinator Nick Olla said. “So focusing on the task at hand and the game that we have, executing the things we know we can do and keeping the mind on one play at a time.”
The Hawks prevail in dominant fashion in last week’s matchup against the Little Elm Lobos, shutting them out with a final score of 49-0 (0-7). Led by senior quarterback Patrick Crayton Jr., Hebron’s offense accumulated 340 total yards. Crayton Jr. aired the ball out for 109 yards, three touchdowns, and added 69 rushing yards as well as a touchdown on the ground. Junior running back Ayson McCray-Jones led the team with 97 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
“They’re good at [passing and running], but I think we probably have the best run stopping defense in the district,” junior defensive tackle Keegan Grubbs said. “I think we just mainly need to focus on the passing game.”
Defensively, the Hawks were able to hold the Lobos to 145 total yards and caught an interception. Eighty eight of those yards came from the air, averaging 4.6 yards per completion. Hebron’s defensive line was just as stout, holding the Lobos running back group to 57 rushing yards and 1.5 yards per carry.
“We’re going to pass the ball, run the ball quite a bit,” junior offensive lineman Aidan Murphy said. “We’re really focused on passing the ball more and making those plays to help us for further games.”
The Farmer’s enter week eight coming off of a 55-28 loss against the Coppell Cowboys. The game was back and forth, and the Farmers led 14-13 at halftime. Going into the second half, the Cowboys would score three touchdowns without a response from the Farmers, turning a one point deficit into a 20 point lead.
“Coppell had a change of momentum, and we just kind of got behind,” Murphy said. “We need to step it up in the second half next time.”
On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore quarterback Tre Williams led a clean passing game, completing 12 of 17 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. While he didn’t make many mistakes when passing, those numbers simply weren’t enough in what became an offensive shootout in the second half. The ground and pound offense that was a major factor in the Farmer’s three game winning streak was able to gain 126 rushing yards (4.6 yards per carry) and two rushing touchdowns. Thirty seven of those yards came on the last drive of the game that had no impact on the outcome of the contest. The offense ultimately ran out of gas after halftime and couldn’t keep up with Coppell.
Defensively, the Farmer’s were able to hold senior quarterback Edward Griffin to 39 passing yards in the first quarter, but Griffin showed out from the second quarter on. Griffin lit up the defense with a total of 458 passing yards and six passing touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns were explosive plays that gained 50 yards or more.
“They definitely got hot on offense, their quarterback got hot,” Olla said. “We struggled to convert some key third downs and stay on the field.”
This week’s matchup between third and fourth place in the district standings will have major implications on who is in and out of the late season playoff race. If Flower Mound can defeat Marcus, the Jaguars will jump into playoff position. If the Farmers want to make sure they aren’t the team to lose their playoff spot, they need to convert and gain first downs consistently, lean on the defense to give the offense more chances and if possible, create turnovers.
“I’m hoping we can go out there and beat them again,” Murphy said. “I don’t think they have a chance.”
*stats according to MaxPreps*
