Hawks swoop in on Tatum Eagles
TATUM, Texas—Pleasant Grove begins its journey toward a state championship today at 7 p.m. The Hawks (10-0) travel to Tatum High School to take on the Eagles (3-7) in a Class 4A, Division II bi-district playoff football game.
Pleasant Grove went 5-0 in District 7-4A and finished first, while Tatum was fourth out of District 8-4A.
“Tatum is traditionally a powerhouse football team, and they are well coached,” Hawk head coach Josh Gibson said. “Our focus is on getting better and growing each week. We prepare against their schemes and do the best that we can. Offensively, we need to play extremely physical and control the line of scrimmage. We want to do a good job of protecting the football and get some big plays in our passing game.”
Sophomore quarterback Ben Harmon has hit on 53 of 86 passes for 1,258 yards with 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions for Pleasant Grove.
Senior receiver Carson Cox leads the Hawk receiving corps with 19 catches for 585 yards and eight scores. Cox averages 30.1 yards per catch.
Leading the ground attack is senior running back TJ Cole who has amassed 1,125 yards on 147 carries and 16 TDs. Cole averages 7.7 yards per tote.
Senior inside linebacker Caleb Porchia is
the Hawks' leading tackler with 122 stops, and senior outside linebacker Xavier Benson had made 74 tackles.
Freshman standout outside linebacker Landon Jackson has made a team-high eight sacks to go along with 63 tackles for PG.
Pleasant Grove is averaging 44.3 points per game and have given up just 16.3 points per contest. The most points the Hawk defense gave up in the regular season was 38 points in a 41-38 win over Gilmer.
The Eagles average 21.7 points per game and give up an average of 30.1 points.
The rest of the offensive starters for PG are: Bruce Garrett at wingback, Benson at tight end, Austin Toler at tight end, tailback Chauncey Martin, left guard Brock Bingham, right guard Hunter Druhan, center Zach Wrinkle, tackle Nick Gavriel, tackle Drake Fowler, and place kicker Dillon Williams.
For the Hawk defense Cameron Wells starts at cornerback, Ryan Pickelman is the free safety, strong safety is Caleb Hemphill, cornerback is Tyler Kelley, free safety is Martin, outside linebacker is Jacob Barbour, nose guard is Fowler, Austin Toler is at tackle, and Harmon is the punter.
The winner will play either Canton or Aubrey in the area round next week.