10/6/2023
In a tale of two halves versus the rival Chisholm Longhorns, the Hennessey Eagles showed the Homecoming crowd exactly what it is capable of. With stellar defensive play from the likes of Kevin Trillo, Jessin Hardin, and Cam Griffin, and on-target passing from Junior QB Gunnar Holder, the Eagles jumped to an early lead with a 32-yard field goal from Luis Macias-Montoya. Following a Longhorn TD run, Hennessey scored their own touchdowns on the next two possessions, with a 16-yard seam route from Holder to Hardin out of the backfield, and a 53-yard sideline-hugging catch and run to Weston Smith to give the Eagles a 17-8 lead near the 4-minute mark of the 2nd quarter. Chisholm closed the first half scoring inside a minute to go in the half, with the Eagles holding the lead 17-16 at the break.
The second half tale was a different story. With the Eagles and Longhorns trading turnovers on the first three possessions of the 3rd quarter, the visitors finally righted their ship, reeling off three consecutive touchdown drives and converting each of their first five 2-Point conversions, taking the lead, then stretching it to 40-16, before Hennessey could score what would be their final touchdown, a carbon copy of the pass, catch, and side line hugging sprint to the end zone from the 2nd quarter, this time Holder and Smith connected for 50 yards to trim the visitor’s lead to 40-24. The Longhorns scored twice more in the 4th versus the 2’s to take the win by a final score of 52-24.
Holder finished the game going 18 for 30 for 173 Yards with 3 Touchdown Passes, and 1 “bad-luck” Interception off his intended receiver’s facemask. Through six games, Gunnar has 752 Yards with 7 Touchdowns Passing.
Senior Receiver Weston Smith earned the MaxPreps Offensive Player of the Game with his 5th career 100+ yard receiving day, pulling in 7 catches for 124 Yards and 2 Touchdowns (53, 50 yards). Smith, at 1,895, is now just 85 yards shy of tying Barry Crosswhite for second all-time in HHS Career Receiving Yards, and with 18 Career TD Receptions, Weston is now only one scored away from tying Crosswhite and Seth Simunek for second most Career Touchdown Catches as a Hennessey Eagle.
The defense was led by Senior DE Cam Griffin with 11 Total Tackles with 4 Tackles for Loss. Junior Linebacker Jessin Hardin added 8 Tackles, teaming with Griffin for 4 TFL’s, as well. Junior OLB Nic Moery, getting his first Varsity start, had 8 Tackles and 3 Assists. The MP Defensive Player of the Game went to Kevin Trillo. The Junior Safety accounted for 9 Total Tackles with 2 Fumble Recoveries and 1 Pass Interception.
The Eagles now turn their focus to the winless Blackwell Maroons, back at Eagle Stadium this coming Thursday, October 12th, for Fall Break football. Game time 7:00 pm.
Story by Eagle Voice, Photos by Jack Quirk
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