Staff writer
The Peabody-Burns High School Warriors football team was defeated by Little River on Friday, 54-26. The Senior Night loss gives the team a record of three wins and five losses with the last game of the season to be played Thursday at Goessel.
PBHS began the first series in the contest at their own 15-yard line. The first three Warrior downs included an Austin Savage run right, a left side pitch from Matt Hiebert to Hunter Pickens, and a keeper by Hiebert. Savage punted the ball on fourth down.
Despite defensive stops from Christian Gard, Brent Jones, Xavier Jabary, Wes Shaw, Savage, and Pickens, the Redskins covered 58 yards on their first drive for a score. The P.A.T. conversion run was successful. Little River earned the 8-0 lead with 6 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Warriors again began at the 15. Pickens ran on first down for a loss. A second down reverse to the left by Braxton Kyle also went nowhere. On third-and-15 at the Warrior 10-yard line, Hiebert found Gard open with a left side pass, and Gard ran for the touchdown. Savage grabbed the conversion pass in the right side of the end zone, and PBHS tied the game at 8 with 5:22 on the clock.
Gard, Shaw, Brody Kyle, and Savage each had defensive plays on the next Little River series. Braxton Kyle recovered a fumble on fourth down.
The Warriors began at the Redskins’ 34-yard line and went in reverse to the Warriors’ 37. The drive was resuscitated however, when the Redskins’ return man fumbled the punt and Pickens recovered.
Working with a short field, PBHS needed four downs to move the chains. On fourth-and-7 from 38, Hiebert connected with Savage for first-and-goal at the 4. PBHS got as close as six inches from the goal line, but turned the ball over on downs at the Redskins’ 6.
Little River needed three runs and a 63-yard pass to set up the next score of the game. A first-and-goal rush from the two gave the Redskins the lead. The conversion run added 2, and Little River led, 16-8, with 9:07 left in the half.
PBHS put together a drive that began at the Warriors’ 15 and ended again close to the Little River goal line. The drive had completed passes to Savage and Pickens and runs by Hiebert. Braxton Kyle got the team to the 1-yard line with a catch on third-and-goal from the 10, but Hiebert was sacked on fourth-and-goal.
The PBHS defense held tight for the remainder of the half with stops by Shaw, Braxton Kyle, Gard, Pickens, Jayton Miller, Brody Kyle, and Savage. PBHS trailed at halftime, 16-8.
Little River kickoff to the Warriors’ 37-yard line. Six plays later, the Redskins added a score from the Warriors’ 3. The conversion run tacked on two. The Warriors were down, 24-8, with 9:02 left in the third.
Late in the quarter, PBHS put together a drive that started at the Warriors’ 37 and ended with a touchdown. Pickens and Braxton Kyle ran on the first two downs. Brody Kyle caught a pass to set up fourth-and-3 at midfield, but a penalty on the fourth-down play sent PBHS back to the their own 34. Hiebert found Pickens on fourth down. The pass took a fortuitous bounce from Pickens to Savage and the team earned a first down at the Redskins’ 15. The first three pass attempts fell short. On fourth-and-10, Braxton Kyle caught a Hiebert pass and PBHS had first-and-goal at the 2. Pickens found the middle gap and PBHS added 6 points. The conversion pass was no good. The Warriors cut the margin to 10 with two minutes left in the third.
Little River received the Pickens kick off and ran a fake reverse the length of the field for a touchdown. That play and a conversion gave the Redskins the 32-14 lead with 1:56 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors’ offense again started at their own 15-yard line. Pickens caught a first down pass from Hiebert but the ball came back to the Warrior 8 on an offensive pass interference call. Hiebert ran a keeper on second down. On third-and-7 from the 8, Hiebert completed a pass to Pickens to set up first down at the eleven yard line. Hiebert connected with Pickens for the score. The conversion pass failed. PBHS trailed, 32-20, with 1:11 left in the third quarter.
Little River added two scores in the first eight minutes of the fourth period. With 4:26 on the clock in the last quarter of the contest, the Redskins led, 46-20.
PBHS got another score on a 65-yard drive that included completed passes to Pickens, Braxton Kyle, and Brody Kyle. The score came on a crossing pattern pass from Hiebert to Pickens with 3:07 on the clock. The conversion pass failed. The gap was 20, 46-26.
Little River added one more score at the two minute mark of the fourth. They also added the extra two.
PBHS lost to Little River, 54-26.
Matt Hiebert was 20 for 37 in the passing game with three touchdowns. He also set the school record for single game passing yards. Pickens caught seven passes for 98 yards and two scores. Gard had one reception for 70 yards and a touchdown. Austin Savage caught five for 73 yards. Braxton Kyle had five catches for 38 yards.
Pickens had nine carries for 11 yards and a score.
Wes Shaw led the defense with 13 tackles. Savage had 8.5 and Braxton Kyle had 5.5. Gard earned 5 tackles. Jones, Pickens and Brody Kyle each recorded 4.5 stops. Jabary had 1.5 stops and Miller recorded one.