Skyline jumped out to an early 20-0 lead and never looked back as the Hawks downed Brentsville District High School by a final of 37-22.
Zayden Burks, who finished with 202 yards rushing on the game, did all the heavy lifting on the first drive, with 73 yards on 4 carries before quarterback Nathan Ballard connected with Isiah Maxwell for a 12 yard touchdown pass. The conversion pass failed, and the Hawks led 6-0.
Brentsville moved the ball well on the ensuing possession, but their 11 play drive ended with a Burks interception in the end zone.
Skyline scored quickly on the next series, with Ballard hitting Marques Lockhart on a short pass that turned into a 72 yard touchdown, to give the Hawks a 13-0 lead with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks got another turnover on the Tigers' next possession as Freshman Brady Lupton recovered a fumble to set Skyline up at their own 43. Ballard took one play to hit Maxwell in stride on a 57 yard touchdown bomb. The third touchdown in three passing attempts for Ballard put the Hawks up 20-0.
Brentsville had another interception on their next possession, as Lane Kenney came up with the pick in the red zone. Despite the many interceptions, Brentsville's quarterback was actually quite effective when not under pressure. But he was under pressure a lot.
Brentsville's defense stepped up on the Hawk's next possession and forced a punt. A comedy of errors on the long snap to the punter resulted in a Brentsville recovery on the Skyline 1. Sawyer Beckman ran it in from there to get the Tigers on the scoreboard with 3:25 left in the 2nd quarter, trailing 20-6.
Skyline was able to tack on 3 points on a Tristan Walker 26 yard field goal in the closing seconds of the half. That score was set up by a 38 yard completion to Lockhart, who finished with 110 yards receiving and a touchdown.
The start of the 2nd half was the Cole Britton show. The senior, who missed the first half of the season recovering from a collarbone injury, came up with an interception on the first play of the 2nd half. Then he finished off the Hawks drive with a 17 yard reception from Ballard. Ballard had 4 touchdown passes on the night.
Brentsville cut into the lead on their next possession as Sam Richards threw a 5 yard touchdown to Wyatt Vonderhaar to cut the lead to 30-14.
But Burks and DayShawn Haley were able to move the ball on the ground on the Hawks' next possession, with Burks running it in from 4 yards out, putting Skyline up 37-14 with 4:01 left in the third quarter.
Burks then came up with another interception on the next Hawks possession, but Skyline was beset by penalties on their next drive and had to punt. The Tigers started in Skyline territory, and Beckman ran it in from 7 yards out to cut the lead to 37-22.
Skyline was driving on their next series with Burks picked up 33 yards on four straight carries. But then Ballard made his only mistake of the game, when a Tiger made an acrobatic interception in the end zone while lying on his back.
No more points were scored in the game, but the Hawks did come up with two more interceptions. One by Maxwell and one by Britton again. Skyline ended the game taking two knees after making it to the Brentsville 4 yard line.
The Hawks improve to 6-3 and will probably host a first round playoff game regardless of the outcome of their game next week against Warren County.(unless Brentsville pulls off a major upset of Kettle Run)
Zayden Burks, who finished with 202 yards rushing on the game, did all the heavy lifting on the first drive, with 73 yards on 4 carries before quarterback Nathan Ballard connected with Isiah Maxwell for a 12 yard touchdown pass. The conversion pass failed, and the Hawks led 6-0.
Brentsville moved the ball well on the ensuing possession, but their 11 play drive ended with a Burks interception in the end zone.
Skyline scored quickly on the next series, with Ballard hitting Marques Lockhart on a short pass that turned into a 72 yard touchdown, to give the Hawks a 13-0 lead with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks got another turnover on the Tigers' next possession as Freshman Brady Lupton recovered a fumble to set Skyline up at their own 43. Ballard took one play to hit Maxwell in stride on a 57 yard touchdown bomb. The third touchdown in three passing attempts for Ballard put the Hawks up 20-0.
Brentsville had another interception on their next possession, as Lane Kenney came up with the pick in the red zone. Despite the many interceptions, Brentsville's quarterback was actually quite effective when not under pressure. But he was under pressure a lot.
Brentsville's defense stepped up on the Hawk's next possession and forced a punt. A comedy of errors on the long snap to the punter resulted in a Brentsville recovery on the Skyline 1. Sawyer Beckman ran it in from there to get the Tigers on the scoreboard with 3:25 left in the 2nd quarter, trailing 20-6.
Skyline was able to tack on 3 points on a Tristan Walker 26 yard field goal in the closing seconds of the half. That score was set up by a 38 yard completion to Lockhart, who finished with 110 yards receiving and a touchdown.
The start of the 2nd half was the Cole Britton show. The senior, who missed the first half of the season recovering from a collarbone injury, came up with an interception on the first play of the 2nd half. Then he finished off the Hawks drive with a 17 yard reception from Ballard. Ballard had 4 touchdown passes on the night.
Brentsville cut into the lead on their next possession as Sam Richards threw a 5 yard touchdown to Wyatt Vonderhaar to cut the lead to 30-14.
But Burks and DayShawn Haley were able to move the ball on the ground on the Hawks' next possession, with Burks running it in from 4 yards out, putting Skyline up 37-14 with 4:01 left in the third quarter.
Burks then came up with another interception on the next Hawks possession, but Skyline was beset by penalties on their next drive and had to punt. The Tigers started in Skyline territory, and Beckman ran it in from 7 yards out to cut the lead to 37-22.
Skyline was driving on their next series with Burks picked up 33 yards on four straight carries. But then Ballard made his only mistake of the game, when a Tiger made an acrobatic interception in the end zone while lying on his back.
No more points were scored in the game, but the Hawks did come up with two more interceptions. One by Maxwell and one by Britton again. Skyline ended the game taking two knees after making it to the Brentsville 4 yard line.
The Hawks improve to 6-3 and will probably host a first round playoff game regardless of the outcome of their game next week against Warren County.(unless Brentsville pulls off a major upset of Kettle Run)
