Hawks’ Homecoming spoiled by Carthage, 35-7

TEXARKANA, Texas — Pleasant Grove faltered in the second half, and Carthage defeated the Hawks, 35-7, on Homecoming at Hawk Stadium on Friday.

The teams — state champions in their respective classes last fall (PG in 4A, Division II, and Carthage in 4A, Div. I) — jogged into the locker rooms with the game knotted at 7-all at halftime.

“I thought we played a heckuva first half and then it was the tale of two halves,” Pleasant Grove head coach Josh Gibson said. “We didn’t produce in the second half. We didn’t produce on offense, and we turned the ball over too much.

“We gave up too many points, and I know that we could’ve played better on defense too. I have to give them a lot of credit; they stepped on the pedal.”

The Bulldogs (3-0) outscored the Hawks 28-0 in the second half. Pleasant Grove (3-2) won the rushing battle 169-127 yards, but were far behind in the passing game, 20017 yards. The Bulldogs totaled 327 yards of offense compared to 186 yards for the Hawks.

“We didn’t respond the way we needed to,” Gibson said. “We played a strong first half but then we fizzled. But we’re going to get better.”

Pleasant Grove had four turnovers in the game, while Carthage did not have one. The Hawks threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

The first half, like most of the second half, pitted Pleasant Grove’s ground attack against Carthage’s air attack.

Nick Martin scored the first touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run with no time left on the clock in the first quarter to give the Hawks a 7-0 lead.

“The kids did a great job at the start of the game,” Gibson said. “They have a great offense and we were able to slow them down. The defense was making plays and putting pressure on the quarterback. We had a new defensive back step in and he played well. After that, it just didn’t go our way.”

Mason Courtney found an opening and scored from 12 yards out for the Bulldogs to knot the game at 7-all with 3:23 left in the second quarter.

Pleasant Grove rushed for 106 yards in the first half, while Carthage threw for 84 yards on 7-of-17 passing. Martin was the Hawks’ leading rusher with 49 yards on 11 totes.

Courtney scored his second touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 14-7 with 9:25 to go in the third quarter. Kavonte Brown-Hoskins grabbed a 66-yard pass from Kai Horton to give Carthage a 21-7 edge with 7:20 to go in the third, and Courtney scored on a 38-yard scamper to make it 28-7 with 2:39 in the third.

Montrell Hatton caught a 22-yard TD pass from Horton to seal the game with 10:10 to go in the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs. Horton hit on 13 of 24 passes for 200 yards in the game and a pair of scores.

The Hawks open up District 8-4A play at Pittsburg on Friday.

Holly Ann Thornton was crowned Pleasant Grove’s homecoming queen before the game.