Wall Hawks Start Fast, Steamroll 6A La Joya

UVALDE, TX — It seemed like the Wall Hawks might be in for a big challenge Thursday against Class 6A La Joya.

Instead, it was the Hawks who overwhelmed their much larger opponent.

Class 3A Wall, with only 370 students, raced out to a 42-point halftime lead on the way to a 55-14 win against La Joya, which has six times as many students with 2,236. 

Wall scored five touchdowns in the first quarter, then added two more in the second — capped by a 99-yard drive.

Wall quarterback Gunner King threw for 225 yards and five TDs on 16-of-21 passing, while Gunner Garza rushed for 122 yards and a TD on 10 carries. Jaxson Kennedy also added a TD run.

Evan Boehle had six catches for 88 yards and two TDs. Lawson Dankworth, Hudson Surber and Jager Thompson each had one TD grab.

The matchup between a 3A and 6A school in Uvalde was a unique meeting between schools located about 450 miles apart (La Joya is located in the Rio Grande Valley outside McAllen), but it just served as a showcase for Wall, which rolled to its 18th straight win.

Wall scored on the fourth play from scrimmage on King's 4-yard pass to Dankworth, then the Hawks forced a fumble on La Joya's second play. Wall again took just four plays to capitalize with Surber's 10-yard TD catch, and the Hawks were suddenly up 14-0 just 3:09 into the game.

After Wall stuffed La Joya on a fourth-down run, the Hawks capped a 36-yard drive with Garza's 5-yard TD run. 

An interception by Wall's Krue Thompson set up a 15-yard TD catch by Boehle for a 28-0 lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

La Joya finally broke through with a 49-yard TD pass from Owen Benoit to Luis Aronja, but Wall took just one play to respond on a 50-yard TD pass from King to Thompson.

Kennedy's 1-yard TD run made it 42-7 with 5:50 to go in the second quarter.

Wall then finished off the first half in style after a punt pinned the Hawks on the 1-yard line. The Hawks drove 99 yards in 11 plays and scored with six seconds remaining on King's 5-yard pass to Boehle.

Wall gave its backups plenty of playing time in a second half that featured just two scores. La Joya's Benoit scored on a 10-yard run to pull the Coyotes within 49-14 midway through the third quarter. Wall's Sutton Robertson scored on an 18-yard run with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Wall, the No. 4-ranked team in 3A Division I, improved to 2-0, while La Joya fell to 1-1. The Hawks will play again next week at Jim Ned in Tuscola.

This story will be updated.

Wall 55, La Joya 14

Wall   35   14   0   6 — 55

La Joya   7   0   7   0 — 14

First Quarter

W - Lawson Dankworth 4 pass from Gunner King (Tyler Klinesmith kick), 10:39 remaining

W - Hudson Surber 10 pass from King (Klinesmith kick), 8:51

W - Gunner Garza 5 run (Klinesmith kick), 4:21

W - Evan Boehle 15 pass from King (Klinesmith kick), 2:30

L - Luis Arjona 49 pass from Owen Benoit (kick good), :53

W - Jager Thompson 50 pass from King (Klinesmith kick), :32

Second Quarter

W - Jaxon Kennedy 1 run (Klinesmith kick), 5:50

W - Boehle 5 pass from King (Thompson kick), :06

Third Quarter

L - Benoit 10 run (kick good), 4:28

Fourth Quarter

W - Sutton Robertson (kick failed), 4:50