Mill Creek dismantles Collins Hill

HOSCHTON, GEORGIA — After losing a game Mill Creek thought they should win last week on the road at Buford, the Hawks were ready to take out their frustrations Friday night.

And unfortunately for Collins Hill, those frustrations were felt early and often as the Hawks went on to dismantle the defending state champs 54-0 in a game that was never in doubt.

The Hawks scored a season-high 44 points in the first half and did so with touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams while also holding the Collins Hill offense to just seven yards.

Mill Creek head coach Josh Lovelady said after the game that his team used the anger of losing last week to Brookwood to their benefit Friday night against the Eagles.

“To be honest, they were mad,” Lovelady said. “We were mad and frustrated with the outcome Friday because we knew we had more potential.”

The Hawks showed that potential against the Eagles.

Fresh off pitching a shutout last Friday at home against Mountain View, the Eagles defense gave up a 45-yard rushing touchdown by Cam Robinson on the very first play from scrimmage.

Robinson’s score set the tone for what would turn into a bloodbath for the next 24 minutes.

The Hawks next points were set up by punter Jacob Ulrich, who pinned the Eagles at their own 2-yard line that set up a safety by Nick Maxey.

Mill Creek’s Jaiden Patterson then took the ensuing kickoff to the house and in the blink of an eye, the Hawks led the Eagles 16-0 with 4:44 left in the opening quarter.

Next it was quarterback Hayden Clark joining in on the fun. The senior made it 23-0 Hawks when he scored on a short 1-yard run.

The Hawks then blocked an Eagles punt attempt on their ensuing possession and that set up a Clark touchdown pass to Brendan Jenkins.

As if things couldn’t get any better for the Hawks, they recovered a short kickoff and Clark and Jenkins hooked up again.

Jenkins’ second touchdown in a span of 1:32 gave the Hawks a commanding 37-0 lead with six minutes still left to play in the second quarter.

With a new quarterback into the game for the Eagles, Caleb Downs picked off a pass just two plays into Collins Hill’s next offensive possession and retuned it 20 yards for a touchdown.

That gave the Hawks a 44-0 lead heading into halftime.

The last touchdown of the night for the Hawks came with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter when Makhail Wood returned a punt 38 yards to extend their lead to 51-0.

Brady Lane then capped their scoring with a short 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

“Short fields, taking advantage of opportunities were keys, Lovelady said. “Our focus all week long from Monday on was worry about us. What can we clean up? What can we fix in all three phases? We went to work on Monday and Im proud of the kids and how they responded from last week. They came in here and created opportunities in all three phases.”