HANCEVILLE. Ala. – Cold Springs and Hanceville met at Ray Talley Stadium Friday night to kick off the 2024 season and after a tight first half, the Eagles put 34 points on the board in the second half to pull away with a 48-30 win over the Bulldogs. Cold Springs racked up over 400 yards on the ground, led by Matt Williams who rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.
The Eagles started the game with an impressive opening drive, but a fumble gave the ball to Hanceville on its own 15-yard line with nine minutes to play in the first quarter. The Bulldogs were forced to put the ball away but a few plays later, Drake Bentley intercepted a Cold Springs pass to give possession back to Hanceville. Bentley returned the interception all the way to the other endzone but a block in the back penalty negated the touchdown. The penalty didn’t end up hurting though because a few plays later, Marquies Leeth took a handoff 37 yards for a touchdown and put the Bulldogs in front 6-0 with two minutes remaining in the first.
The Eagles responded with a methodical scoring drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown run from Williams, tying the game at 6 with just over nine minutes to play in the first half. Cold Springs added to its lead on its next possession when Williams scored his second touchdown of the night, this time from 4 yards out, with 3:45 to play in the second quarter. Cooper Johnson punched in the two-point conversion to make it a 14-6 game.
The Bulldogs were able to answer the Eagle score in the final seconds of the quarter when Hunter Black connected with Bentley for a 10-yard touchdown, trimming the Cold Springs lead to 14-12 at the halftime break.
Hanceville turned the ball over on downs on its first possession of the third and the Eagles took advantage of the stop a couple plays later when Williams burst through the line for a 77-yard touchdown, extending Cold Springs’ lead to 20-12. The Bulldogs continued to battle back, cutting into the lead with another touchdown pass from Black to Bentley that made it a 20-18 game with three minutes remaining in the third.
That’s when the Eagles began to pull away for good. A 3-yard touchdown run by Johnson, followed by a two-point conversion run from Ethan Day, stretched the lead to 28-18 with just under 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. An 8-yard touchdown run from Mason Gable and a two-point conversion by Tycen Kilgo put Cold Springs ahead 36-18 and Cason Alexnader broke free for a 45-yard touchdown to make it a 42-18 game with 4:24 on the clock.
Hanceville didn’t lie down, scoring on a 92-yard kick return touchdown from Leeth and a 70-yard pass from Black to Ashton Hurst but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Eagles’ lead and Cold Springs left Ray Talley Stadium with a 48-30 win over the Bulldogs.
Williams led the way for the Eagles with 201 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Alexander added 146 yards and a pair of scores, Gable finished with 38 yards and a touchdown and Johnson posted 13 yards and a touchdown.
For Hanceville, Black finished 16/27 through the air with 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Leeth posted 134 yards and a touchdown on the ground to go along with the special teams score and Bentley led the receivers with 11 catches for 91 yards and a score.
Cold Springs will be on the road to face Curry next week and Hanceville will head to Holly Pond for a battle with the Broncos.
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