Hawks win fourth straight
Going into the season, a balanced offensive attack was a big goal for the Holly Springs Hawks.
Things were clicking Friday night at J.Z. George as the Hawks beat the Jaguars 36-8. It was Holly High’s fourth straight win.
“You can’t run if you can’t pass,” coach Donald Deans said. “Teams will just load the box on you.”
Versus J.Z. George, Kadarreon Lumpkin ran the ball 15 times for 165 yards and G’Tavin Terrell seven times for 50. Dylan King was six of 13 passing for 104 yards. Marquise Turnage caught four of those for 42 yards.
“We made some adjustments on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football early on that helped us,” Deans said. “
“On our third possession of the night, everything started flowing easier.”
Joshua Kimble opened the Holly High scoring on a 15-yard run.
Then Lumpkin carried 23 yards to the end zone. Ahmed Alhalemi kicked the extra point.
The Hawks led 13-0 at the half.
Dean’s team exploded for 23 points in the second half.
Terrell ran 10 yards for six points, and Roy Vaughn threw to Xavier Scruggs for the two-point conversion. It was 21-0.
King then threw a pair of touchdown passes – the first 15 yards to Turnage and the next 60 yards to Rahmel Campbell. Alhalemi kicked the extra point after the first of those scores, and Vaughn cashed in a two-point conversion after the second touchdown.
The Jaguars’ touchdown and two-point conversion came late in the fourth as they avoided the shutout.
“Defensively, we have been playing well,’’ Deans said. “We are using our speed and getting to the ball.”
Alhalemi led the defensive effort versus J.Z. George. He had three solo tackles, 13 assists and an interception. Vaughn had two solos and 12 assists.
Next up for the Hawks (4-1) is their homecoming game Friday versus Tishomingo County. The Braves are 2-3, coming off a 47-26 loss to Booneville last week.
“They look good on film – a really good running back,” Deans said.
The Hawks lost 7-6 to the Braves last season.
“They’re much improved, and hopefully we’re better than last year, too,” he said.
“We’re expecting a good crowd and we just have to stay focused with all the homecoming festivities.
“We need to keep gaining confidence before our district games start (the following week versus Water Valley).”