Staff writer
The Peabody-Burns High School football team earned its third victory Friday at Canton with the defeat of Canton-Galva, 38-8. The Warriors are now 3-1 for the season. Up next for the team is a homecoming match-up with Centre.
The Warriors received the opening kick-off but their first drive stalled and they punted to the Eagles. Both defenses did the job and neither offense found the end zone in the first quarter.
The first PBHS scoring drive began at their own 10-yard line. Hunter Pickens connected with Austin Savage and then Braxton Kyle to move the offense to midfield. Pickens scrambled for 38 yards on second-and-10 to put the line of scrimmage at the Canton-Galva 12-yard line. A first-down run from Pickens gained 5 yards. Savage moved the ball on second down just short of the first down. A quarterback sneak by Pickens was stopped short of the goal line but moved the sticks to the one. Savage ran on the next down but fumbled. Garret Schroeder recovered the fumble in the end zone and PBHS scored six. A sweep by Pickens scored the two-point conversion and PBHS was on the board, 8-0, in the second quarter.
No more score was added in the first half. PBHS led 8-0 at the break.
After the PBHS kick-off, the Warriors’ defense held the Eagles and forced them to turn the ball over on downs midfield.
Pickens connected with Morris for a 20-yard gain. A penalty on first down moved the offense back, but a Savage run gained back 10 yards. Braxton Kyle caught a pass on third down to earn a first down at the Canton-Galva 15. Pickens ran for 4 yards and then Kyle scored on a second-down run from the Eagle 11. Tommy Morris caught the conversion pass and PBHS led 16-0.
The Warriors’ defense held the Eagles on their next series and forced to punt. Pickens caught the punt and covered the field for the run back score. Morris snagged the conversion pass for 2 yards. PBHS led 24-0 with 4:45 left in the third period.
The Warriors’ offense started their next scoring drive on their own 17-yard line. Savage had two runs for 10 yards. Kyle earned two on first down, and Christian Gard caught a second-down pass to move the ball to just outside the Canton-Galva 10-yard line. Savage took the ball around the left corner for the touchdown. The P.A.T. failed, but PBHS led, 30-0, with 1:00 in the third.
Colton Terronez recovered an Eagle fourth down bad snap and set up the PBHS offense for their next scoring drive at the Canton-Galva 20-yard line. Kyle earned the last PBHS score on an 11-yard run. Seth Topham caught the conversion pass. PBHS led 38-0 in the fourth.
The Eagles added one score late in the contest. The touchdown pass was followed by a conversion toss with 1:38 left in the game, which made the final 38-8.
“The team prepared hard for this game, and after halftime adjustments, got the job done,” coach David Pickens said. “After a homecoming loss to Canton-Galva last year, they really wanted this win.”
Hunter Pickens went 9-for-15 for 145 yards passing and he rushed 12 times for 59 yards. Savage caught two passes for 16 yards and carried the ball 13 times for 63 yards. Kyle caught four passes for 56 yards and ran eight times for 40 yards. Morris caught two passes for 28 yards. Gard caught one pass for 42 yards.
Kyle led the defense with 13 tackles. Jayden Miller had 11, and Morris earned 10. Xavier Jabary had seven stops, and Hunter Pickens had six. Savage had four, Larsen and Gard added three each, and Schroeder and Keifer Larsen each recorded one.