Blackhawks Down Whirlwinds; Take Aim on Midway in District Football Tournament

Adrian Blackhawks shut out the Archie Whirlwinds 23-0

A sluggish start offensively turned into a flurry of scoring late in the ballgame Friday night as the Adrian Blackhawks hosted the Archie Whirlwinds. in the first round of district action. Adrian defeated Archie by the score of 23-0. The Blackhawks defense played well throughout the game making the lack of offense more of an annoyance rather than a threat to victory.

Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively. Adrian had several drives fizzle out failing to convert on fourth down. They were too close to scoring to punt but too far away for a field goal attempt. As the first quarter came to a close another drive stalled this time close enough for a 23 yard field goal attempt. Adam Cochran's kick sailed through the uprights with the only points the Blackhawks would need on the night. A 55 yard touchdown run by Gage Steen midway through the second quarter extended the lead to 9-0. It would stay that way until 3:13 to play in the game. Steen found and opening and raced 30 yards to paydirt. Two minutes later he did it again this time for 25 yards Cochran was good on both extra point attempts.
Steen had 123 yards rushing on the night with three touchdowns. Junior Zach Shannon saw an increased workload with 48 yards on 12 carries.
Junior Jacob Weeks stepped up this week recording 15 tackles on defense and one quarterback sack. Hunter Harris had 12 tackles. Sophomore Parker Deal had a very good night registering 11 tackles and an impressive three quarterback sacks.

"We fought through some adversity today" said Head Coach Matt Cochran "We couldn't really get things rolling offensively. The kids kept battling for field position. Finally in the fourth quarter we manged to break a couple runs that put the game away. Defensively, I thought we played well. They have a 1,200 yard RB that we kept to 80 yards and 50 of those were on 3 carries. Our kids wouldn't quit. We have Midway in the district semifinals, and the last time we played them it was a 6 point game. We need to be ready to play because they will be. Come out and support your Blackhawks on Friday."

The Blackhawks travel to Midway to take on the Vikings in the second round of the Class 1 football championship bracket. Midway defeated Liberal 41-14 last Friday. The winner will face the winner of the Jasper vs Drexel game. The Drexel Bobcats defeated the Rich HIll Tigers 42-36. They took a large first half lead then held on for dear life to secure the victory. Jasper finished the regular season atop the district standings and enjoyed a first round bye.

Class 1 Football Championship Bracket