Staff writer
Peabody-Burns High School football suffered a Friday homecoming defeat to Hope, 50-6. The team, now with a record of 2-2, will play Friday at home against Lincoln.
Derek Price touched the ball first for the Warrior squad with the return on the opening Lion kickoff. The PBHS offense started at the Warrior 34 but the drive went in reverse and ended at the Warrior 29. An Abe Eldridge punt was blocked and Trevor Foth tackled the Hope player who recovered the ball special teams at the Warrior 17.
Despite tackles by Price and Brody Kyle, the Lions scored on a third-and-9 from the 16. The extra point attempt was unsuccessful, but Hope had the early 6-0 lead with 7 minutes, 46 seconds on the clock in the first quarter.
Price again received the Lion kickoff. Hunter Pickens ran on first down at the Warrior 17. Eldridge earned two on a second down pass reception. On third down, Hunter Pickens hit Price for a big pass completion and PBHS set up offense in Hope Territory. Storm Pickens rushed on the first two downs and earned a new set of downs to first-and-goal at the 6-yard line. Eldridge went nowhere on first down, but Hunter Pickens ran a bootleg to the right in second down for the Warrior score. The extra point kick was blocked but PBHS tied the score 6-6 with 4:37 left on the clock.
PBHS defense did the job on the next series with stops by Austin Savage, Price, Lucas Larsen, Kyle, and Spencer Moffett. A fourth down incomplete Hope pass ended the drive and PBHS offense set up at their own 14-yard line.
Storm Pickens ran on the first two downs of the next series. Hunter Pickens connected with Price to move the sticks to the Warrior 27-yard line. The first quarter ended with a 7-yard gain from Eldridge. Storm Pickens gained two on the first play of the second quarter. On third-and-1, Eldridge plowed through the middle of the Lion defense to earn a first-and-10 at the 40-yard line. Storm Pickens carried for a gain of one on first down, Kyle caught a pass for a gain of four. Storm Pickens picked up three on third down. Hunter Pickens kept the drive going with a rushing gain of 13 on fourth-and-2 at the Hope 32.
Eldridge gained two on first down and Price caught a second down pass for a short gain. A third-down offensive pass interference call slowed the drive as the Warriors were pushed back to the Lion 31-yard line. A fourth-down catch by Savage was short of the yard marker and PBHS turned the ball over at the Hope 15-yard line.
Warrior defensive plays by Kyle, Price, and Storm Pickens held the Lions on the next series. Hunter Pickens stopped the Lion offense with an interception on second-and-11 at the Hope 26-yard line. A Lion penalty moved the ball to set up first-and-goal at the Hope 4-yard line. PBHS got as close as the one, but PBHS lost the ball on a third down fumble recovered by the Lions.
Clint Jones and Moffett had stops on the next Lion offensive series but Hope moved the length of the field for a score. The extra-point attempt was stopped by the PBHS squad but Hope led 12-6 with 3:53 left in the first half.
The Warriors had another offensive series before the half but it ended with an Eldridge punt.
Hope started their final possession before the half at their own 19-yard line. The Lions moved the ball to the Warriors 24 on five plays. Hope connected on a fourth-and-11 pass play with seconds left on the clock and advanced the ball to the end zone for the score. They added a two-point conversion and the 20-6 score favored the Lions at the half.
Hope scored four times in the second half. Three were rushing touchdowns and the last came on a blocked punt in the Warrior end zone.
PBHS offense struggled through the final half of the homecoming contest and didn’t find the end zone. PBHS lost to the Hope Lions, 50-6.
Defensive stops in the second half were recorded by Price, Larsen, Eldridge, Kyle, Hunter Pickens, Clint Jones, Brent Jones Jacob Gillet, and Foth.
Hunter Pickens rushed seven times for 11 yards and a touchdown. Storm Pickens rushed 18 times for 55 yards.
Price had one carry for eight yards and Tommy Morris had two carries for four yards.
Hunter Pickens passed 7-for-15 for 77 yards. Price caught 5 passes for 59 yards. Savage caught one for 16 yards and Kyle caught one pass for four yards.
Price led the defense with 15.5 tackles. Larsen had 7 and Hunter Pickens had 6.5 tackles. Storm Pickens and Kyle each had six defensive stops and C. Jones had 4.5. Foth and Eldridge each had four tackles and B. Jones had 2.5. Moffett came up with 1.5 tackles and Gillet had .5.