Hawks in the hunt

BUNKER HILL — After a tough loss last week at Greenfield-Northwestern, the Carrollton Hawks played another tough game Saturday. This time however, the outcome was completely different as the Hawks squeaked by the Bunker Hill Minutemen 26-15.

“I am very, very happy with the way we bounced back this week,” Carrollton coach Nick Flowers said. “We had a great week of practice and we came out here today and executed offensively.”

With the win, the Hawks (3-2, 2-1) moved into a tie for second in the Western Illinois Valley Conference South Division.

The game was closer than the 11-point margin would indicate. In what started out as a defensive-minded game, the first touchdown didn’t come until the end of the first quarter, when senior Landry Prough completed a 17-yard pass to Chas Walker. Prough ran for the 2-point conversion.

Prough and Walker hooked up again for another touchdown late in the third quarter on a six-yard pass.

Prough, Walker and Mathew Schmidt were the offensive stars for the Hawks Saturday. Prough completed 27 of his 38 pass attempts, or 71 percent, while piling up 324 yards and three touchdowns.

“(Bunker Hill) had a really good line and they hit me good a couple of times,” Prough said. “But we spread the ball around a lot more today and that helped the passing game.”

Walker was Prough’s go-to man when he needed a completion. Walker totaled 126 yards and two touchdowns on 12 catches. Almost half of Prough’s completions went to Walker.

Although Walker caught the most passes, Schmidt had the most yardage of any receiver, with 136 yards on six receptions, including the game’s final touchdown. In all, Prough got the ball into the hands of five different receivers.

The Minutemen used a play they call the “hitch-’n’-pitch” to get their first touchdown of the game. Freshman quarterback Mark Huette completed a pass to Anthony Williams who then tossed a lateral to Terry Petty, who took the ball 48 yards to the end zone. Bunker Hill then tied the game by converting the 2-point conversion.

The Minutemen took the lead for a short time in the third quarter. After Prough and Walker hooked up for their second touchdown, Carrollton failed on the conversion attempt, and Bunker Hill rolled 53 yards on four plays for a touchdown. Petty took the ball into the end zone for his second TD of the game on a 28-yard run. The PAT put Bunker Hill up by a point.

Carrollton took the lead for good in the fourth quarter, putting together two long drives that put points on the board and ate up the clock. The first touchdown came on a 1-yard run by junior Michael Rea (the Hawks’ only rushing touchdown of the game). The final score came on a 10-play drive, capped by a 39-yard pass to Schmidt.

“I am very proud of the way our kids responded to momentum changes today,” Flowers said. “I thought we did a god job.”

With the Hawks leading as the fourth quarter drew to a close, the Carrollton defense stepped up and forced two turnovers. Sophomore Evan Steinacher recovered a fumble by Huette, then Rea picked off Huette’s final pass attempt of the game.

“Rea did the right thing when he picked off the pass,” Flowers said. “He could have tried to return it, but he ran around with it, burned a little clock, and then went down. Not very many kids do that.”

This Friday the Hawks return home to host the Pleasant Hill Wolves in their homecoming game. The Minutemen (1-4 overall, 0-3 WIVC South) take on the Calhoun Warriors in Hardin.