Sports

Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Hancock stuns Harrison Central

LYMAN — In a game that saw the Region 4-6A title at stake for Harrison Central, the Hancock Hawks pulled off a major upset, knocking off the Sun Herald’s No. 1-ranked team 27-25 on Friday night at Earl Phillips Sr. Stadium.

Ocean Springs defeated George County 31-21 on Friday night, which, if coupled with a Harrison Central victory, would have given the Red Rebels the 4-6A championship. Instead, Hancock’s scrappy quarterback, Keagon Gillihan, and the Hawks had other ideas.

Hancock scored the winning points in the final seconds, with Gillihan throwing to Adrian Whavers in the end zone.

“We have been through so much as a team over the last few years,” Gillhan said. “To end our prep careers this way is laying the groundwork for the future at Hancock.”

The Red Rebels (9-2, 5-2) grabbed an early lead when senior quarterback Arion Williams scored on a 7-yard run. The conversion failed and Harrison Central owned a 6-0 lead.

Gillihan got the Hawks offense going in the second quarter when he found Brian Armenta for a 28-yard touchdown pass. Tyler Leurent’s conversion gave Hancock a 7-6 lead.

The Hawks (5-6, 3-4) went back in front through the air, when Gillian struck again when he hit Lance Jaynes for a 43-yard touchdown pass to give Hancock a 14-6 lead.

Gillihan wasted no time in the opening moments of the second half when he found Armenta again, this time down the right sideline for a 22-yard touchdown pass and a 21-6 lead.

The Red Rebels offense then took things over mounting a furious comeback with a blitz of touchdowns that left Hancock staggered.

Williams scored back-to-back touchdowns with runs of 1 yard and 9 yards while the conversions failed, narrowing the Hancock lead to 21-18.

Harrison Central’s Jarious Washington intercepted a Gillihan pass giving the Red Rebels field position on the Hancock 23-yard line. Three plays later Furious Bradley put the Red Rebels in the lead with a 3-yard run and Michael Dye’s conversion gave Harrison Central a 25-21 lead with 2:35 remaining.

Gillihan and the Hawks then mounted the game winning drive that was highlighted by Gillian finding Hunter Seymour on a slant route with 46 seconds left.

“We ran the slant with the idea to get under the safety,” Gillihan said. “Seymour made a big play.”

The game winner went to Whavers in the right of the end zone that was designed to allow the back to come out of the backfield with man coverage on the outside receivers.

“The play is called Florida Red,” Whavers said. “I told Coach, let’s run it, with the man coverage it allowed me to slip under it.”

“We felt it was there,” Hancock coach David King said. “Gillihan got him the ball and he made a great catch.”

HCHS offensive lineman Wes Rea took a philosophical approach to the loss.

“If anything good can come out of this it will be that it might just wake us up,” Rea said.