HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Hanceville Bulldogs hosted East Lawrence for senior night at Ray Talley Stadium Friday night and they celebrated the occasion with a 53-23 win over the Eagles.
East Lawrence got the ball to start off the game and broke a 44-yard run on just their second play of the series and later on, a nine-yard run as that put the ball at the nine-yard line. The Eagles ended up finding the end zone on fourth down as a two-yard run gave them a 7-0 lead. Hanceville quickly responded on its opening series as Brosnan Ward found a huge hole up the middle on the first play and ended up scoring on a 53-yard run. The PAT got blocked and the Bulldogs trailed, 7-6. On Hanceville’s next defensive possession, Braxton Pitts recovered an East Lawrence fumble at the 28.
The Bulldogs ran a trick play on the second play of its series as Noah Jones threw a pass to Hunter Black, who ended up finding Zach Campbell all alone in the end zone on a 25-yard connection and that gave them a 12-7 lead. The Bulldog defense forced another Eagle turnover as Marquies Leeth picked off a pass. The Bulldogs started going backwards on its next drive as a penalty and sack saw them looking at a 3rd-and-26 from the 47. Campbell found Konnor Helms for 19 yards, then a personal foul on East Lawrence moved the ball up to the 14. Ward scored on the next play to push Hanceville’s lead to 19-7. The Eagles quickly responded on its next drive as they scored on a 68-yard run to cut it to 19-14.
The Bulldogs’ next drive saw Campbell complete a pass to Pitts for 26 yards and Ward finished off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run down the right sideline to make it a 26-14 game. The Eagles went on a long, methodical drive that ended with them kicking a 25-yard field goal to cut it to 26-17. Hanceville got the ball back with a little over a minute to go in the first half as they looked to get another touchdown before the end of the first half. Huge passes by Campbell to Braxton Broad (nine yards) and to Drake Bentley (10 yards) helped the Bulldogs get to the 32. Two plays later, Campbell rolled to his left and found Ward. He broke a few tackles before getting the ball over the goal line for the 32-yard score to end the first half as Hanceville took a 33-17 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs added to their lead to start out the second half. Campbell found David Springer for 14 yards on the first play, then two plays later, Ward picked up another first down on a 12-yard run. Then, Leeth made a great diving catch on Campbell’s 32-yard touchdown throw as that increased their lead to 39-17. The Bulldog defense forced a turnover on downs on its next series and added another touchdown to the scoreboard as a Malcome Delgado three-yard run made it 47-17. The Eagles added a 14-yard touchdown run to cut it to 47-23, but Hanceville got the final touchdown of the contest on a one-yard run by Springer as the Bulldogs would go on to take the game on Senior Night over East Lawrence, 54-23.
Campbell ended up going 8/11 for 152 yards and two touchdowns; he also added a 25-yard touchdown reception as well. Ward added 151 yards on just eight carries and a pair of scores and also had a 32-yard touchdown reception. Leeth had a 34-yard touchdown reception, while Delgado and Springer each added touchdowns as well. Black threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Campbell. Pitts and Ben Nichols each recovered a fumble and Leeth added an interception.
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