Comeback Hawks: Carrollton rebounds from deficit to thump Triopia 39-30
CONCORD - After facing so much adversity through three quarters, the Carrollton Hawks needed one stop, which was hard to come by all game long.
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Their efforts and prayers were answered as Nathan Walker recovered a fumble and four plays later he caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback, Hunter Flowers to seal the deal. The Carrollton Hawks came back from a 30-19 deficit by scoring 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and defeated the Triopia Trojans 39-30 in a thrilling week one showdown in Concord.
“It was crazy. I knew we could do it,” Nathan Walker said. We came out and got turnovers, which was key, and that really helped us out.”
Walker caught six passes for 164 yards and was on the receiving end of the Hawks final touchdown, which was a spectacular play. He made a diving catch over two Triopia defenders.
“I had this guy right on me. I had to get up over him and get the ball,” Walker said. “I was happy to have my number called.
Despite Carrollton’s success the last five years, this is the third time since 2012 and the first time since 2014 they’ve won a week one game, which couldn’t make head coach Nick Flowers happier.
“This is great Friday night football,” Flowers said. “The last two years we dropped our opener, and Alex Bowker hit the nail on the head. He said we got past that week one blunder. It’s a great way to start the season, and we’ll celebrate it all the way home.”
In his first ever start at quarterback, Hunter Flowers put in a solid performance considering the circumstances. He threw for 304 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions and was 13-of-22 through the air. In the second half, he completed every one of his seven passes. Additionally, Flowers rushed for 38 yards on eight carries.
“I definitely needed a couple of quarters under my belt,” Flowers said. “I trusted my line, and they got the job done.”
“Varsity football is fast for a sophomore kid. Some of those balls and catches were unbelievable,” Coach Flowers said. “Hunter’s got a long way to go, but I thought his vision got better in the second half.”
Along with the sophomore quarterback, the Hawks have a lot of juniors and sophomores getting plenty of minutes on the field. To coach Flowers, it was a case of growing up early on.
“We had a lot of youth out here, and we just grew up that first half, and now it’s time to finish this ball game and do it like the Hawks know how to do it,” Flowers said. “Offensively we took what they gave us.”
It didn’t start out particularly well for young Flowers and the Hawks.
Triopia received the opening kickoff and scored on a two-yard run by Michael Burns. On the following possession, Carrollton quickly drove downfield, but Flowers’ pass to the end zone was intercepted by Zach Thompson at the one-yard line. The Trojans completed a 66-yard pass that set up another short touchdown run by Burns to go up 12-0. The Hawks never let them convert a two-point conversion, which turned out to be critical.
Carrollton quickly regrouped. Flowers connected with his cousin Zach Flowers for a 61-yard touchdown strike to make it 12-7, and it seemed like they would take the lead after the Trojans fumbled the ball and recovered by sophomore Cade McAdams at the 7-yard line. However, Thompson would intercept Flowers again, which resulted in a touchdown for the Trojans to put them up 18-7.
With two minutes and five seconds to go in the first half, Carrollton successfully drove down field and Flowers hit Alex Bowker in the back of the end zone with 35 seconds left to get the Hawks to within a touchdown at 18-13.
The Hawks received to start the third quarter and drove down inside the Trojan 20-yard line, but failed to take the lead. Triopia promptly marched 82-yards, which included a 45-yard Burns run to the five and Thompson scored on a 5-yard run on the following play to get their two score lead back at 24-13. However, the Hawks answered back.
On a third and eight on the Triopia 41, the Trojans snuffed out an attempted screen pass and flushed Flowers to the sidelines, but at the last second he found Walker hiding behind the secondary and caught a 38-yard pass. Two plays later, in the wildcat formation, Byron Holmes scored on a 1-yard run to once again bring it back to a one-score game at 24-19.
“What’s great about that was it was a panic type play,” Coach Flowers said. “Whenever we get outside the pocket when something's not happening someone has to continue their route and get an open window. Defensive backs start losing track of receivers, and before you know it, you find an open receiver.”
However, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Burns scored his third touchdown of the game on a 36-yard run by breaking through a big hole and evading a Carrollton defensive back. The score was 30-19, and it appeared the Hawks chances were dwindling, but the offense wouldn’t yield.
“Coming back we needed to keep our composure and all we had to do was step up on offense, and the defense would come,” Hunter Flowers said.
The sophomore directed a 60-yard drive and capped it off with a 6-yard pass to Walker in the back of the end zone to bring the score to 30-26 with eight minutes and 31 seconds to play. With the Hawks defense struggling to stop the run, Holmes kicked an onside kick, and Carrollton recovered it at the Triopia 43. The ironic thing is that it wasn’t an onside kick.
“It was actually a squib kick,” Coach Flowers said. “It didn’t go quite as far as [Holmes] wanted it to. He smoked it, and the kid knocked it down, and we got on the ball.”
As a team, the Hawks gained 145 yards on the ground and kept the Trojans honest in the second half. As a result, Flowers threw half the passes he did in the first half.
“We said at halftime we were fine and just had to get back in this ball game and run the football a little more,” Flowers said. “They were giving us coverages that we just had to throw the ball. When I see coverages that I know we can throw the ball.
The Hawks promptly drove down the field, converted a third and eleven, which led to another Holmes rushing touchdown. This time from five yards out to give Carrollton their first lead of the game, which they would keep hold of for good.
Triopia had plenty of time to drive 78 yards with just under five minutes to play, but near midfield, they fumbled the ball, which led to Carrollton’s last touchdown that sealed the game.
For players like Walker, Holmes, Hunter and Zach Flowers, they haven’t been apart of a Hawks team that won an opening game. The feeling is oh so sweet.
“I haven’t won a first game yet, Walker said. We’ve been putting in a lot of time and effort into practice. We’ve had two-a-days, a lot of conditioning and we came out here and performed well in the second half.”
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