No. 5 Wall Battles Rival Jim Ned in Tuscola

WALL, TX — The No. 5 Wall Hawks travel to Tuscola for rivalry week Friday against the Jim Ned Indians.

Fresh off an absolute drubbing of 6A La Joya, 55-14, in Uvalde last Thursday, the Hawks look to start 3-0 with a win on the road. Nothing could have gone better for Wall last week. The Hawks jumped out to a 49-7 halftime lead over La Joya before all the starters took a seat for the entire second half.

This gave many Hawks players who rarely see the field because of Wall's tough schedule precious quality reps against a 6A opponent.

As for the starters, Wall quarterback Gunner King had another lights-out performance through two quarters. He finished 16-of-21 for 222 yards and five touchdowns in the first half. He then sat down and let Ian Reichenau add another 71 yards and a touchdown through the air.

Running back Gunner Garza also had himself a day with 10 carries for 127 yards and a score.

Wide receiver Evan Boehle led the Hawks' receivers with five catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Twelve different Wall receivers registered catches in the win.

Wall needs that same production coming into the matchup with the Indians on Friday. Jim Ned brings back only three starters from last year's team (1 on offense and 2 on defense), so this is a young team with little experience. Because of that, Jim Ned's brutal schedule has not been kind to the Indians. A 39-12 loss to Midland Greenwood in Week 1 and a 26-7 loss to Llano in Week 2 has Jim Ned sitting at 0-2 with the defending 3A Division II champions coming to town. On paper, this looks like a Wall Hawks win, but do not discount what a rivalry game means to the Tuscola community.

On defense, Wall cleaned up many of the mistakes the Hawks made against Canyon West Plains in Week 1. Missed tackles and penalties were less of a problem against La Joya, but a penalty did negate Wall's third takeaway of the day, so there is still work to be done for this young defense. The Hawks must play disciplined football this week to keep Jim Ned out of the end zone.

Jim Ned always plays up to the competition when it plays the Hawks. In fact, last year's 24-0 shutout was one of the defining moments for the Hawks last season because of its irregularity. Expect Jim Ned to play tough, physical, disciplined football when the Indians face off with Wall on Friday.

Kickoff in Friday's matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Tuscola.