NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Hat High Hawks celebrate a defensive stop in the last minute of the fourth quarter of their 27-26 win agaisnt the Cardston Cougars Friday night to secure the South Zone Tier II championship.
It took a 15-point comeback, but the Hat High Hawks football team are South zone Tier 2 champions.
The Hawks beat the Cardston Cougars 27-26 Friday night to win zones and advance to provincials next weekend.
Hawks head coach Quinn Skelton said he can’t say enough about his team’s determination in the win.
“I can’t say enough about the heart and the never say die, never quit in the boys. So it’s just a fantastic feeling and I’m so proud of them,” Skelton said.
The Cougars took hold of the first half with three rushing touchdowns to put them ahead 20-5 at the half. Hat High got their first half points from a rouge punt in the first quarter, a made field goal and a rouge point from a missed field goal in the second quarter. The Hawks did block the field goal attempt on Cardston’s third TD of the half to keep them within 15.
Skelton says he told his team at the half to play at another speed, because they were playing below the Cougars.
“We were playing a gear behind and I challenged them to come out and play like a Tier 1 team and get at it,” Skelton said. “We just can’t play like we are and expect to win.”
Tesema Veurink, who had three touchdowns in the win, said that Skelton told them to up their pressure.
“He said kick that pressure up because our team is built on physicality and if we just keep going at them over and over again, it’s up to us at the end.”
The Hawks got on the board early in the third with a 57-yard passing touchdown from Brody Fink caught by Tesema Veurink. Hat High would convert a two-point conversion on a Logan Wells catch to bring the Hawks to 20-13, outscoring their first half total.
The Hawks mounted a drive halfway through the fourth quarter that ended with Veurink’s second TD of the game to even things up at 20-20.
The Hawks then picked up a Cardston fumble with less than five minutes in the fourth and started a drive as the clock began to dwindle. In front of a cheering home crowd, Veurink punched in his third TD of the game to put the Hawks up 27-20 with 2:49 left.
Cardston was not done just yet as they drove the ball back at the Hawks and scored their fourth rushing touchdown of the game to bring them within one.
The Cougars, after not scoring since the second quarter, went for a two-point conversion that was squashed by Hawks Cole Ricken, tackling the quarterback to seal the zone championship for Hat High.
Skelton said he was pretty happy watching the play to seal them the win unfold on the sidelines.
“We were yelling from the sidelines to watch for the fake and sure enough they went for two and had a little bit of trouble handling the ball and Cole got at him and knocked it out and we win, Skelton said.”
Across the field, Cougars head coach Josh Watson said there were things his team did well in the loss but said Cardston had a great year.
“I felt like our guys played hard and we came a long way from the beginning of the season,” Watson said. “Ultimately we fell short of our goal, Hat High has a good team here and they played well.”
Veurink said after the game he couldn’t believe the Hawks won on a single point and he said he’s excited to go back to provincials with the Hawks core.
“It’s crazy because in Grade 9 it was the same group as it is now and we get to do it together again. It’s surreal actually.”
Hat High will host a provincial game next Saturday, time and opponent to still be determined. Skelton says they should find out their opponent on Sunday and will start watching film as soon as they can.
