SPRING MILLS — Ranked in the bubble of the Class AAA State Football playoffs following a 21-20 loss to Morgantown last week, the University Hawks entered Friday night’s Class AAA game against the Spring Mills Cardinals set on securing their ticket to the postseason.
With that sense of urgency, the Hawks made the most of their opportunity to secure a playoff spot in a 35-13 victory over Spring Mills.
“We said this was a playoff game. If we lost, we weren’t even sure we were going to get in, and they had an opportunity with the right scenarios to get in,” Hawks coach John Kelley said. “We knew it was a playoff scenario. I thought we came out and we did what was expected.”
Following an interception by Jake Crosten to put an end to the Cardinals’ opening drive, UHS quarterback Luke Hudson completed four passes on the opening drive, including a 5-yard shovel pass to Noah Braham to give University a 7-0 lead with 5:48 remaining in the opening quarter.
A couple of shifty moves by Cardinals quarterback Max Anderson on the ensuing drive brought Spring Mills down the field to the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.
“The broken play for them, or what we call backyard football just showed that he is so tough,” Kelley said of Anderson. “You can’t catch him. He keeps plays alive, and they have great speed.”
As the first quarter came to a close and the second quarter began, the Hawks began to drive the ball up the field but ran into a slight roadblock once they got into the red zone.
University brought the ball down to the 1-yard line, and just as the Cardinals appeared to have worked their way to a goal-line stand, Braham on 4th and 1 found a hole and broke the deadlock with 8:50 to go in the second to give the Hawks a 14-7 lead.
As University got the ball to start the second half, the call came down to go for a hook and ladder play as Hudson found John Coleman, who pitched it to Sebastian Dalton to put together a 37-yard gain that put another touchdown on the board for the Hawks two plays later.
“That was a great call because we had been running hitches, and their corner was coming up hard on them,” Kelley said. “That was a backbreaker to come out and score right there, and the seed of doubt was planted and everything seemed to go our way.”
The breaks continued to go University’s way as on a three-and-out with 4:17 to go in the third, Spring Mills muffed a punt that set up Coleman catching a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hudson six seconds later to make the score 28-7.
Following a drive that fizzled out after a fight broke out, disqualifying a University player, the Cardinals turned the ball over as Jaeden Hammack turned defense into offense as he intercepted an Anderson pass and returned it to the Cardinal 8-yard line. Dalton scored on the touchdown scamper with 5:49 remaining to make the score 35-7.
Anderson capped a nine-play 70-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to round out the scoring at 35-13.
University improves to 7-3 and waits on this weekend to see where they will be playing next week. The Cardinals fall to 4-6 and are eliminated from postseason play.
By Spenser Leatherman
