Cardinal air force bombs Hawks 40-6

— The Blackhawk football team saw their last chance for a playoff berth evaporate as they were upended by the Farmington Cardinals 40-6 last week.

“I was disappointed in the way we played tonight,” coach Tony Travis lamented. “I thought we could have had a better game but we were generally ineffective defending against the pass. I had a lot of concerns about their speed advantage before the game. We have one more game next Friday that we ought to win and we want to win to give the seniors a victory in their final game as a Blackhawk.”

Although the ’Hawks won the opening toss and got a runback of the kickoff by Daniel Beard to gain a first down on the 30-yard line, things went downhill after that as the only positive yardage the ’Hawks could muster in their first series was a 4-yard run by Braxton Caudill. After a short punt to give the ball to Farmington on their 37, it took but one play for the Cardinals to score as a pass to a wide open receiver netted 63 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals were successful on the 2-point pass to lead 8-0 with 9:45 left in the game.

The ’Hawks were determined to even the score and launched a 14-play, 69-yard scoring drive. Two runs by Winn covering 12 yards fora first down on the ’Hawk 45 and an 11-yard pass from Austin Easterling to Caudill pushed the ’Hawks into Farmington territory on the 44. Winn ran for 9, then 2 yards for another first down on the 33. The big play in the drive came next with Easterling scrambling for 17 yards and another first down, this time at the 16-yard line. Runs by Easterling and Winn pushed the ball to the Card 6 where the ’Hawks faced a fourth and 2. Winn then battled for 3 yards for a first down on the 5-yard line with Caudill taking it in to score on the next play. Easterling was sacked before he could get offa pass which left Farmington ahead 8-6 with 3:04 left in the quarter.

The Cardinals exploited the pass again after the kickoff, converting three passes for 64 yards and another touchdown, consuming just 70 seconds. Another successful 2-point pass pushed the Cardinal lead to 16-6 with 1:49 left.

The Cards clamped down on the ’Hawks and forced a punt after three plays. The ’Hawks caught a break as the Cardinal punt receiver muffed the ball and an alert Bo Rylee pounced on the pigskin to the give the ’Hawks a first down on the Farmington 40. Caudill rushed for9 yards on three attempts and was stopped a bare few inches short of the first down marker on the fourth down play. Taking over on their own 30, the Cardinals managed to get a couple of first downs before bogging down on the ’Hawk 45.

Penalties and incompletions forced them into a fourth and 18 resulting in punt to the ’Hawk 32. A quarterback sack and holding penalty blew up the ’Hawks’ chance to move the ball, forcing a punt back to their guests.

Three passes placed the ball at the ’Hawk 24 and to rushes put the ball into the end zone. The Cardschose to kick the PAT as the score ballooned to 23-6 with 2:49 left in the half.

On the ’Hawks’ next possession, Caudill caught an Easterling pass for 8 yards to the 33, but Winns’ yard and a half run on the next play left them inches short, forcing a punt. The Cardinals returned to the air, as they threw six passes to cross mid-field. Also included in the mix were a couple of quarterback keepers which netted negative yardage.

A big break seemed to come the ’Hawks’ way when Caudill reached up to snag an interception and make an exciting 60-yard runback deep into Cardinal territory. However, a flag was thrown on the play after the interception negating Caudill’s fine runback. The penalty also ended the hope of either side scoring before intermission.

The Cards came out ready to roll in the second half as they launched two scoring drives sandwiched between a ’Hawk possession which ended up losing 26 yards. The first drive featured the passing attack with the final yards covered by a 3-yard run into the end zone. The kick was good to extend the lead to 30-6. After the short ’Hawk possession, Farmington launched an exclusive ground attack, rushing seven times for 37 yards and another score. The score came on a 35-yard field goal after the ’Hawksstopped them fourth and 1 on the 28. The goal pushed the score to 33-6 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.

The ’Hawks were not going down without a fight as they used the running of Winn and Caudill and passes from Easterling to Rylee and Caudill a first down on the Cardinal 24. A 5-yard penalty slowed them and a quarterback sack put them in the hole at fourth and 11. An incomplete pass gave the ball back to the Cardinals on the 25.

A 40-yard run by the Cards on second and 8 putthem down at the ’Hawk 23. Three plays later, the Card fullback burst up the middle for 22 yards and the game’s final score. The kick was good, setting the final score at 40-6.

Winn led the offense with 84 yards, netting him over 1,200 yards for the year, putting him into the top two rushers in the league, along with Darrick Streleski of Gravette.

The ’Hawks host their last game of the season with the Berryville Bobcats this Friday. The ’Hawks come into the game with a 3-6 record with the Bobcats sporting an 0-9 mark.

Sports, Pages 9 on 11/02/2011