Trinity was up 6-0 at the half.  The Hawks scored late in the 3rd quarter to take an 8-6 lead.  Trinity came right back and scored a touchdown to go up 12-8.  Late in the 4th quarter, the Hawks scored to take a 16-12 lead and then held them on downs with under 2 minutes to go to seal the victory, 16-12.

The Middle School Hawks remain undefeated, as they beat Arlington 45-40. Read more in the Times-Herald .

The Hawks' middle school football team continued its two-year winning streak by defeating Flint River 32-8 at home, scoring 20 unanswered points to open the game. S. Perry had a pair of touchdowns before halftime, putting the Hawks on the scoreboard with a 9-yard run and then later scampering 80 yards on a punt return. In between, Hawks quarterback M. Burns recovered an onside kick and converted the turnover into points on offense. He found P. Henson on a swing pass for a 40-yard pass play that gave Heritage a 14-0 lead after C. Taylor's kick.

The defense also did its part, holding Flint River on downs to begin the second half. The Hawks then drove the ball the opposite way while getting a big chunk from H. Smith's 60-yard run. R. Blackstone completed the scoring drive on a 1-yard run that pushed the score to 26-8. Heritage added a final scoring drive that featured six runs from H. Stanley, the last of which was a 20-yard touchdown. Stanley led the team with 85 yards rushing. Defensively, M. Henson finished with a team-high seven tackles, while T. Wood had four. Both E. Lawrence and H. Thomas finished with a pair of tackles.

For the second straight season, the Heritage Middle School football team finished the regular season unbeaten to claim the MAC West Division Title and number one seed in the MAC playoffs by defeating Harvester in Douglasville. The Hawks won 38-26 and were able to put up over 400 yards of total offense in route to the victory. S. Perry led the rushing effort with 165 yards and M. Burns contributed 105 yards on the ground. Perry and Burns also combined for 105 yards of return yards and P. Henson threw for over 100 yards in the win. Defensively, the Hawks were led by C. Jones with 4 tackles, one of which was a crushing blindside sack that forced a fumble and secured the win late in the fourth. Burns and J. Macke each recorded a sack and A. Gainwell added 3 tackles and 50 yards of offense. Perry led the Hawks in scoring with three TDs and Jones caught a pass for a TD and finished with over 100 yards receiving on the night. The Heritage Hawks answered an 80-yard scoring play from the Harvester Hawks and reeled off 26 unanswered points before Harvester brought it within six in the fourth quarter off a fumble return for a touchdown. Burns took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to extend the lead again and Jones dislodged the ball from the quarterback on a sack in Hawks territory before running out the clock.

The Heritage School will host the first round of the MAC Playoffs at 6:30 on October 22 when Loganville comes to town. The Heritage School and Trinity will represent the MAC from the West Division while Creekside and Loganville will play from the East.

Heritage Middle School defeated Loganville Christian 28-0 to move to the finals at home vs. Trinity Christian, who defeated Creekside Christian 30-12 in the playoffs.  

The Hawks held Loganville on the first series and took over at their own 38 yard line after H. Stanley’s pass breakup on fourth down.  The Hawks moved to the Loganville 36, then S. Perry went 36 yards around the right end for the first touchdown, bringing the score to 6-0. The two-point conversion failed. On the next series, Loganville fumbled and A. Gainwell recovered for the Hawks near midfield. From the Loganville 26, Perry scored again and added a two-point to move the lead to 14-0.  Loganville drove down to the Heritage 38, but on second down, H. Smith sacked the quarterback.  On the third down, P. Henson picked off the Lions’ pass. The two teams traded turnovers again and with 3:30 to go in the half, quarterback Henson hit tight end C. Jones on a pass down to the 7 yard line, setting up A. Gainwell’s touchdown. Henson connected with Jones again on the two-point play to make it 22-0 prior to half.  

In the second half, the Hawks started off on their 43 and moved the ball down to the Lions’ 40 yard line. Perry scored his third touchdown of the day on a run from 40 yards out, bringing the score to 28-0.  M. Henson recorded a sack on 4-5 to prevent Loganville from penetrating Hawk territory. Loganville threatened again late in the game, but C. Jones ended their last drive with an interception at the Hawks’ 26 yard line.  

Stats:

Tackles-
Gainwell 7, 1 fumble recovery
M. Henson, 4 ½ , including 2 sacks
C. Jones, Perry and R. Blackstone had 3 each
Jones and P. Henson had 1 interception each

Passing –
P. Henson 135 yards
50 to Perry (2 catches)
57 to Jones (4)
20 to M. Burns (2)

Rushing-
Perry 142
Gainwell 46

The Heritage School’s Middle School football team won its second consecutive MAC championship, defeating Trinity Christian 20-0. The Hawks’ defense dominated, holding Trinity to only three first downs and 101 yards total offense. C. Jones led the hawks with 7.5 tackles and a sack followed by A. Gainwell with 5. The Hawks held the Lions on their first possession and struck quickly after the Lions punted the ball to the heritage 45 yard line. S. Perry raced 55 yards around the left end on the Hawks first play from scrimmage to open the game 6-0. The two-point play failed. With 2:15 left in the opening quarter, the Trinity Lions drove the ball down to the Heritage three yard line.  After an offsides penalty pushed them back, the Lions threw a half back pass on 4-5, which P. Henson intercepted and returned to the Heritage 27 yard line. Henson connected on one of his three passes to tight end C. Jones to advance the ball near midfield, but Trinity held the Hawks on fourth down to get one more shot at a score before halftime. The Hawks defense held again and got the ball back for the Hawks on their own 43 yard line with only 1:08 left in the half. After a short gain on first down, with 13 seconds left in the half, quarterback P. Henson hit C. Jones with a pass over the middle. Jones broke a tackle, hit the sidelines, and raced 53 yard for a touchdown. S. Perry added the two-point play, making the score 14-0 at half. 

The Hawks got the ball in the second half and put the game away immediately. Anticipating where the kickoff was going, Hawks head coach Drew Henderson inserted quarterback P. Henson on the right side of the kick return team. Henson received the kick, threw a lateral across the field to S. Perry, who ran 65 yards untouched for a Hawk touchdown. The two-point play failed and the score was 20-0. That score proved to be enough, as the Hawk defense only allowed one second half first down.  Final score was 20-0 Heritage Hawks.

S. Perry had over 100 yards rushing on the night. Quarterback Henson was 3-4 passing for 75 yards (all to tightend C. Jones) and M. Burns and A. Gainwell added tough running yards up the middle all night. A solid defense front of R. Blacksone, J. Macke, and J. Trammell were tough to block all night, despite being outweighed heavily by Trinity’s offensive line.

The Hawks’ combined score in their two playoff wins was 48-0.

Read more in the Times-Herald.