Sophomore Allen quarterback Mike Hawkins was in an upbeat mood after Prosper denied the Eagles a chance to win their 16th straight district championship last week.
Prosper handed Allen a 28-23 loss for Allen’s first district defeat since 2010. The Eagles fell half a game behind Denton Guyer, taking the top spot in the district 6-5A. But Hawkins knew that Allen still had a chance to earn a share of the district title.
“It was about coming back stronger and keeping my teammates up and not bowing your head and working harder,” he said. “This week has been a really good week for us.”
Hawkins and Co. moved on from that loss and reduced some of their frustrations in the process.
Hawkins made three touchdowns in less than three-quarters of the game, and senior sign Shuva returned an 85-yard intercept to score in what led the Eagles to a 53-28 win over Denton Braswell at Eagle Stadium Thursday night led.
@alleneaglesfb receives the District 5-6A championship trophy. 16th consecutive district title for the Eagles. @MWelchSLM pic.twitter.com/ytTOHf2dks
– David Wolman (@david_wolmanFWS) November 5, 2021
“Hats off to Prosper last w
eek, ”said Chad Morris, Allen head coach. “You played hard. You played well. We made some mistakes and they capitalized on them. But it’s good to see how our guys react. The whole week the challenge was, ‘How are we going to react?’ And that’s what we did. “
The Eagles (8-2 total, 5-1 district) will be seeded No. 1 in Class 6A Division I in District 5-6A and will receive either Coppell, Hebron or Lewisville in a bi-district playoff in November at 7pm . 12 at Eagle Stadium. Braswell ends his season 5-5, 2-4.
It was all for everyone on Thursday.
Hawkins got into a nice rhythm with senior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson early in the game. Tyson caught three passes for 39 yards in the game’s initial possession, with his third going for an 8-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead for the Eagles.
Hawkins and Tyson returned after a Braswell punt. As a Braswell defender grabbed the back of Tyson’s jersey, Tyson kept his balance and caught the ball in the right corner of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown and a 15-0 lead for Allen with 5:57 in the first quarter .
Hawkins threw just one incompleteness on the night, going 10 for 11 for 209 yards and adding a roaring touchdown. Hawkins passed for two touchdown passes, both caught by Tyson. Tyson pulled in five balls for 103 yards.
“We all worked as a team,” said Hawkins. “We didn’t do that last week. We came back as a team tonight and everything worked out. “
landing @alleneaglesfb. Mike Hawkins shows his speed on this 48-yard run. Allen 50, Denton Braswell 14. 9:42 3Q. Eagles are taking some frustrations after losing to Prosper last week. pic.twitter.com/eJy0QBl3VJ
– David Wolman (@david_wolmanFWS) November 5, 2021
Braswell moved the ball well all night, but Allen’s defense bent but barely broke. The Bengals injure themselves with discarded passes and throws outside the target. One of those off-target passes went for an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown from Shuva for a 22-0 lead with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter. Braswell owned the Allen 18 when junior quarterback Keegan Byrd threw the sixes.
“Sign made a great game,” said Morris. “The guy who made the game was the defensive end that came off the edge which resulted in (Byrd) throwing the ball up a little bit. Sign made great read, great break. That of course allowed us to score, which was huge. “
Four different quarterbacks were given playing time for everyone. Junior Lathan Van Ausdall led a scoring drive early in the second quarter, calling his own number in a 5-yard run for a 29-7 Eagles lead. Senior Noah Kimball got time under the middle in the second quarter. Junior Evan Bullock took command of the Eagles offense in the fourth quarter.
Junior running back Devyn Turner stormed for touchdowns of 4 and 16 yards in the second quarter when Allen went into halftime at 43:14.
Turner powered Allen’s running game, contributing 11 times for 115 yards. Van Ausdall reached 72 rushing yards on five carries.
Turner started in place of senior running back Jaylen Jenkins, who missed Thursday’s game with a knee injury. Morris expects Jenkins to return next week for Allen’s playoff competition in the Bi district.
