Wall Hawks Pull Away Late in Battle With Early

EARLY, TX — The Wall Hawks left Early with a 34-17 win Friday, but the final score doesn’t tell the story of this game, which was a battle until well into the fourth quarter.

No. 4-ranked Wall trailed 9-7 at halftime and didn’t take the lead for good until the final minutes of the third quarter.

Even after Wall began to pull away, Early fought back to within 20-17 with 7:25 remaining, and the Hawks had to respond one more time to finish off the Longhorns.

Lawson Dankworth scored on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Gunner King with 4:29 to play, and the Hawks added another late score to seal it.

"I liked the response, but I didn't like the first two-and-a-half quarters," Wall head coach Craig Slaughter said. "We had 10 penalties and seven or eight offensive penalties, and we didn't have a penalty the last two games. We just didn't play very clean and very sharp. It was not good action for sure."

Wall overcame the rough start to improve to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in District 3-3A Division I, while Early fell to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in district.

The contest felt like the district-title game, but the Hawks haven’t locked up the district crown just yet with a 7-1 Ingram Moore team looming in the regular-season finale.

Wall will be off next week before hosting Ingram Moore on Nov. 6.

Wall scored on the game's opening drive against Early— a 14-play, 76-yard march that was capped by Gunner Garza's 1-yard run — but the Hawks wouldn't find the end zone again until there was 3:26 left in the third quarter.

Early controlled the clock with its rushing attack, and the Longhorns had a spectacular play on special teams when Andrew Reedy returned a punt 80 yards for a TD, highlighted by him hurdling a Wall player to give the Longhorns a 9-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

Early then chewed up about 5:30 off the clock to start the second half, but the Hawks' defense ultimately forced a punt, and Wall's offense drove 80 yards to reclaim the lead.

Wall's defense then made another quick stop, and quarterback Gunner King scrambled before finding Evan Boehle for a 40-yard TD pass on the final play of the third quarter for a 20-9 lead.

"We knew we needed to obviously play better on first down," Slaughter said of how Wall turned the game around in the second half. "My God, they were second-and-1, and we were first-and-20 it felt like. We knew we needed to put our self in better shape, and then I thought some of our talent started making some of those plays we knew our talent could make."

Early junior quarterback Caden Wilson showed why he's one of the more exciting players in the area when he led the Longhorns on a drive to get back in the game, capped by his 2-yard TD run. His two-point conversion pass to Jaxson Stockman made it 20-17 with 7:25 remaining.

It was a gut-check moment for Wall, and the Hawks responded by driving right back down the field to clinch the win and perhaps the district title. 

If Early beats Ingram Moore next week, the Hawks can finish no worse than in a tie for the district championship. If Ingram Moore wins, it will set up a winner-take-all game between the Hawks and Warriors for the title in two weeks.

It has been a while since Wall has been tested in district play, and it could pay off down the road before the Hawks embark on a difficult path through the 3A Division I playoffs.

"That's what I just told the kids," Slaughter said. "(Early) has some players, and they can play. And obviously we're going to see some really good teams I hope as this season plays out. That game right there definitely shows you things you need to do better and to understand the intensity of two good football teams going at it, and I don't think we were up to that intensity at the start of it."

Wall has now won 24 of its last 25 games, and the Hawks have won 22 straight district games dating back to 2021.

Wall 34, Early 17

Wall   7   0   13   14 — 34

Early   3   6   0   8 — 17

First Quarter

W - Gunner Garza 1 run (Tyler Klinesmith kick), 6:38 remaining

E - Brennan Rasor 29 field goal, :50

Second Quarter

E - Andrew Reedy 80 punt return (pass failed), 5:18

Third Quarter

W - Kaden McFarden 2 run (pass failed), 3:26

W - Evan Boehle 40 pass from Gunner King (Klinesmith kick), :00

Fourth Quarter

E - Caden Wilson 2 run (Jaxson Stockman pass from Wilson), 7:25

W - Lawson Dankworth 36 pass from King (Klinesmith kick), 4:29

W - Garza 26 run (Klinesmith kick), 1:54