BEACON FALLS — Led by junior running back Sean McAllen, the Hawks soared past St. Paul 30-13 last Friday night.
McAllen used his stocky 5-foot-7-inch frame to run for 158 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns to dig the Hawks (2-2) out of an early deficit at home.
“Sean tonight had the type of game that every coach dreams of; he came in and took the game over. In the locker room he was vocal, the guys responded and they played their butts off,” Woodland head coach Tim Phipps said.
After going down 7-0 early behind a Patrick Etter 17-yard touchdown pass to Ben Pryor with 8:16 left in the second quarter, Phipps turned to McAllen to right the ship.
The ensuing Hawks’ possession featured a steady does of McAllen as he helped drive the Hawks down field. The drive looked like it might stall, but facing a fourth-and-long from the 20 Phipps pulled a rabbit out of his hat.
After three consecutive sacks, coach Cody Kingsley drew up a mid-screen, where the defense swarmed quarterback Mike Kenney before he dumped a ball to an unguarded McAllen in the middle of the field.
McAllen followed his blockers downfield before he dove into the end zone to ensure the touchdown would stand and capped a 13-play drive.
“Coach Kingsley from the booth made the call and said, ‘Coach, I believe in it,’ and I said lets go with it,” Phipps said.
The two point conversion failed and the Hawks headed into halftime down 7-6.
Phipps had a few inspirational words for his time at the half.
“I just reminded the guys at halftime that the reason we were here was to compete and that the reason they put the pads on was to get to this point and that the scoreboard didn’t indicate how much they wanted that game,” Phipps said.
The Hawks responded as they came out strong in the second half, catching the Falcons (1-3) off-guard the rest of the game.
After back-to-back three-and-outs to start the third quarter, Woodland drove 42-yards in short order capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by McAllen. Woodland made the two-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead with 5:05 left in the third quarter that they wouldn’t relinquish.
On the Hawks’ next possession, McAllen and Joe Poeta marched the Hawks downfield 70-yards before Kenney faked a handoff to McAllen and dove in the end zone himself from 3 yards out with 11:55 left in the fourth quarter. After tacking on the two points, Woodland extended the lead to 22-7.
The Falcons first play after the touchdown was a sack by a blitzing Hawks’ linebackers, causing Etter to fumble and the Hawks recovered the ball at their own 25.
Wide receiver Jason Rodrigues would put the nail in the coffin eight plays later.
A first-and-goal from the 4-yard line turned into six points quickly as Rodrigues took a handoff from Kenney and sprinted across the field to the sideline, before turning up-field for the touchdown. After another successful conversion the Hawks held a 30-7 lead with 7:23 remaining.
The Falcons would score with 2:06 left in the game on a 76-yard pass from Etter to Pryor on a short pass that resulted in missed tackles before a footrace ensued down the sideline.
Phipps had called for the junior varsity defense to be on the field by that time, so no real damage was done to his starting unit.
The Hawks are on a bye this week. Woodland will be back in action at home against Weston on Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. as Phipps looks to keep the momentum rolling.
“It’s going to take a lot of focus because we have a good group of teams that are coming up looking to come after us, so we have to build off of today,” Phipps said.
