No. 10 Wall Hawks hold off pesky Mason 14-6
WALL -- It wasn't a thing of beauty, but the Wall High School football team will take it.
The No. 10-ranked Hawks hung on for a 14-6 homecoming nail-biter against Mason at Clayton Weishuhn Field on Friday night.
Mason looked like it might tie things up in the waning moments when the Punchers recovered a Wall fumble at the Hawks' 28-yard line with 28 seconds left.
Two plays later, Wall's Briggs Jones made a game-saving interception, his second pick of the night.
"I feel like we have one of the best defenses," Jones said. "Our defense always steps up and steps up the pressure. And I think we always deliver no matter what."
As for his game-saving pick, Jones said, "I'm glad I was in the right spot to get us the win."
Wall improved to 4-1, while Mason dropped to 4-2.
The Hawks had trouble holding onto the ball all night. They lost four of nine fumbles, but they escaped with a win.
"I'm at a loss for words right now for how many fumbles we had," Wall head coach Houston Guy said. "It's an incredible win for our kiddos to have that many adversities and still come out with a victory. It shows the tenacity of some of these kids and how they played."
Guy said Jones' game-saving pick was a "big play. He had a great night."
Ryan Allen also had an interception for Wall.
Brylan White had two sacks for the Hawks, and Chandler Wilde and Dylan Gidney had one apiece.
As usual, Mason running back Ryne Todd was a workhorse for the Punchers. He wasn't able to punch his way into the end zone, but he kept the chains moving to help his team stay within striking distance.
"He's a serious weapon for them out there," the Wall coach said of Todd. "The way he runs the ball, I was real worried. We knew coming in that he was going to be a tough kid."
This was the fourth-straight win for the Hawks against the Punchers.
Hawks running back Nathan Pepper scored on touchdown runs of 5 and 3 yards and he did the bulk of the damage for the Hawks in their ground-and-pound Flexbone offense. He finished with 18 carries for 83 yards.
As a team, the Hawks had 161 yards rushing.
Wall led 7-6 at the half.
Brooke Lehr was named homecoming queen.
Cason Jacoby kicked two field goals for the Punchers from 28 and 29 yards.
Mason is a Class 2A Division I school and the Punchers were facing the 10th-ranked 3A D-II team in the state on the road.
The Punchers gave the Hawks everything they wanted on this night.
"That's the biggest takeway, not being able to take advantage of the opportunities," Mason head coach Michael McLeod said. "We were able to get down there in the red zone quite a few times. That total execution on the offensive side and to be able to take advantage of the opportunities, we're not there yet.
"Our coaches and our team, I mean they're as gritty as they can be and that's why we're able to have these chances with these bigger schools and capable of doing what we're doing. In due time, it's going to come. It's going to execute and click for us and when it does, those boys are going to find the success they're searching for."
Win or lose, McLeod talked about the benefits of playing a bigger school like Wall.
"If you want to be better, you've to play better," the Punchers coach said. "We go into the open week somewhat healthy, but it allows us to use things from this challenging game to go to the drawing board and change things. Change this, change that, encourage this, encourage that. It allows us to get better.
"That's what we're looking for. It's nice to score 50 points and win and all that stuff, but these are the games that teach true, deep-down characteristics and core values that you need and the grit and the toughness and the consistency to be able to play deep in the playoffs. And that's why we schedule these games."
Wall will host Ballinger next Friday in the District 2-3A Division II opener for both teams.
Mason returns to action on Friday, Oct. 14 when the Punchers host Johnson City for homecoming and the 14-2A D-I opener.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: No. 10 Wall Hawks hold off pesky Mason 14-6
