Eagles get big win over Alva
It’s more than an uphill climb, but Hennessey still has a theoretical shot at reaching the playoffs.
The Eagles kept those hopes alive last Friday by manhandling Alva 33-18.
Hennessey had 390 total yards and led by three touchdowns entering the fourth quarter.
The win moved the Eagles to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in District 2A-1.
That puts them in a tie for fourth place with Blackwell.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is Blackwell owns the tie-breaker due to the head-to-head win.
Adding to that, the Eagles still have to play Oklahoma Christian School and Luther to round out the regular season. Those two teams have a combined 10-1 district record.
Slim as it may be, the chance to reach the playoffs remains, but wouldn’t have if the Eagles had lost to Alva.
They took care of that business early and often.
The Eagles scored the game’s first 21 points and answered each of Alva’s first two scores with one of their own.
Keigen Crites set the tone early with a 78-yard touchdown run just three minutes into the game.
He added a 5-yard touch down run just 12 seconds into the second quarter.
Seth Simunek made it 21-0 Hennessey at 9:21 of the second quarter when he caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Sebastian Gonzalez.
The Goldbugs were able to cut their deficit to 21-6 at halftime, but Hennessey got a 34-yard connection from Gonzalez to Nyk Snyder in the third quarter.
Gonzalez got his third touchdown pass of the night with 58 seconds left in the third when he hit Simunek from 20 yards out.
That put Hennessey up 33-12.
Gonzalez played nearly mistake-free football.
He was 15 of 22 for 196 yards and the three scores without an interception.
He added 45 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Crites got the call 23 times and ran for 155 yards.
Simunek completed the “big three” for the Hennessey offense as he had six catches for 130 yards.
Weston Smith added five more grabs for 37 yards.
Snyder and Brandon Mendoza led the defense.
Snyder had 12 tackles and Mendoza 10. Both of them had eight solo stops.