Jackson Lautaret
ASU Student Journalist

The Tanque Verde Hawks prevail in a penalty-filled matchup

September 7, 2018 by Jackson Lautaret, Arizona State University


Photo by Jackson Lautaret/AZPreps365

The Hawks of Tanque Verde were back on the field Friday at home, and earned a 21-7 win over Rincon/University for their first victory of the season.

The first half was rather quiet until the 2nd quarter with only one touchdown being scored by running back Joseph Lines of the Hawks, putting Tanque Verde up 6-0. The rest of the quarter would consist of the Rangers driving down into the red zone on the back of quarterback Preston Silvas, but to be eventually stopped on a turnover on downs to end the first quarter.

The action heated up again with 4:09 left in the half from a Hawks fumble that was recovered inside the 10-yard line by Rincon/University.  After a delay of game by the Rangers, Silvas worked the ball into the end zone to give the Rangers their first lead of the night, 7-6.

The Hawks bounced right back when Lines returned the following kick off for 90 yards resulting in a touchdown. The return, however, would be called back due to a variety of personal foul calls. The Hawks next drive stalled.

The theme of the game was penalties. There where more than 100 yards of penalties dealt out over the course of the night and neither team was immune to the fallout. 

“It definitely hurt us, it killed us as we tried to tie the game, and then we got third and long, fourth and long and those are not very high success downs,” said Mike Strack, head coach of the Rangers.

The Rangers offense was put on the shoulders of Silvas, who was the main source of offensive production throughout the night.

“He’s really only playing his third game,” said Strack, “He’s done a really good job. He’s handling it great, I’m extremely proud of him. I thought he played his heart out tonight and made a lot of plays,”.

The momentum began to shift for the Hawks after Silvas was injured on a play resulting in a backup quarterback botching a handoff and the Hawks recovering the ball.  The fumble would lead to a long Hawks drive that resulted in a touchdown and a two-point conversion, both scored by running back Kahlo Valenzuela, putting Tanque Verde ahead 14-7.

While Valenzuela reaped the benefits of the touchdown, the star of the half was Chase Burch. Rushing for over 50 yards in the second half alone, Birch was a key factor in the Hawks second half game plan.

“We saw that the penetration was running to the sideline and we asked, can we run wedge and trap? The boys came to me at half and said ‘Coach, we can run this and we can win this game,’ so we went with it and they figured out how to run it and they did it, and that was all the changes,” said Hawks coach Jeremiah Johnson.

Right at the center of that strategy was Burch. He fought for the tough yards and even broke some long runs at times.

Burch gave all the praise to the motivation of the team and the offensive line for helping lead him through the game. “We decided to get motivated and didn’t quit in the second half,” said Burch. Further, “Our linemen did and amazing job. They ran up, made their blocks and gave me holes to run through, they were a major part of that,” Burch concluded.

Late in the game the teams continued fighting hard and at one point there was a late hit on the Tanque Verde quarterback which led to a skirmish on the field resulting in personal fouls on both sides. The Hawks would put the final nail in the coffin on the same drive with a touchdown from Ty Bennett in the final minute.

Tanque Verde, after some time to celebrate their big win, will turn their attention to Winslow High School for next week’s matchup.