HOLLY POND, Ala. – The Hanceville Bulldogs traveled to Holly Pond for a county battle with the Broncos and this matchup on the gridiron turned into a track meet as soon as the ball was kicked. Holly Pond went into the locker room leading Hanceville 34-14 at halftime and the Broncos didn’t slow down in the second half, putting up 40 more points on their way to a 74-35 rout of the Bulldogs.
A 12-yard touchdown run from Boston Gibbs gave Holly Pond a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter and on the next Broncos possession, Sawyer Olinger ran one into the end zone from 26 yards out to add to the lead. Olinger tossed a pass to Brody Howard to get the two-point conversion and make it a 14-0 game. Later in the first, Hanceville got on the board when Hunter Black threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Marquies Leeth out of the backfield and trimmed the lead to 14-7.
It didn’t take long for Holly Pond to answer. Gibbs broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run just a few plays later to put the Broncos in front 20-7 with 2:51 remaining in the first quarter. The Bulldogs found the end zone again early in the second quarter when Black connected with Peyton Twilley for a 16-yard touchdown, making it a 20-14 game. However, those were the last points of the half for Hanceville and Olinger scored with both his legs (20-yard TD run) and his arm (39-yard TD pass to Howard) in the final minutes before halftime to give Holly Pond a 34-14 lead at the break.
The points kept coming in the second half. Zayne Faulkner recorded three touchdown runs in the third quarter to stretch Holly Pond’s lead to 58-14 with just over three minutes remaining in the period. An 18-yard touchdown pass from Black to Drake Bentley trimmed the lead to 58-21 with about 11 minutes to play. Holly Pond answered with a 14-yard touchdown run by Howard to make it 66-21 but neither team was done scoring.
Black completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Hurst to make it 66-28, Gibbs took a handoff 40 yards for a score to put Holly Pond in front 74-28 and on the final play of the night, Black raced down the sideline for a 78-yard touchdown, bringing the final score to 74-35 in favor of the Broncos.
Holly Pond will be on the road to play Sylvania next week and Hanceville will travel to take on Gordo.
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