FOOTBALL

No. 4 Eagles race past Sardis 55-28

Meads finishes with 257 yards, 5 TDs in win

J.J. Hicks Times Sports Writer

SARDIS CITY — Class 4A, No. 4 Hokes Bluff and Sardis played Friday night and a Big 12 game broke out.

The Eagles and Lions combined for close to 900 yards of offense in the regular season finalé won by Hokes Bluff 55-28. Eagle running back Darrian Meads scored five touchdowns to cap an outstanding regular season.

The score was 28-14 at the half in favor of Hokes Bluff. Though Sardis never could get closer than 14 points in the second half, it hung around long enough for the Eagles to keep their starters playing deep into the fourth quarter.

That partly was by design, though.

“We needed to play four quarters,” Hokes Bluff coach Mike Robertson said. “We’ve only played four quarters three times this year.”

Meads rushed for all four Eagle touchdowns in the first half. The Lions got a pair of touchdown passes from Jay Owens to Jacob Hopper, the second a 1-yarder with 14 seconds left in the half.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second half. Hokes Bluff got into the end zone on Ashton Gulledge touchdown passes to Braydon Hill and Carson Eubanks, a Meads 4-yard run and a Will Clemons 2-yard dive. Sardis scored on Owens scoring tosses to Hopper and Trent Presley.

 Star of the Night

It was another banner night for Meads. The junior, to go with his five touchdowns, gained 257 yards on 28 carries, an average of 9.2 yards per carry.

 Play of the Game

A 23-yard run by Meads made it 28-6 midway through the second half. Though the Lions scored again before halftime, they never could get closer than two touchdowns.

Coachspeak

“Give Sardis credit, they played hard and we knew they would. But give our offensive line credit.

“They (Sardis) had good schemes. Their coaches did a good job. They showed us some new things. We’ve got to play better on defense. We’ve got to tighten up. We’ve got some guys banged up. Our technique was not good. We’ve got to get off the field.” — Robertson

By the Numbers

3 — It was a clean game, as there only were three penalties called, two on the Eagles and one on the Lions. … 522 — Final offensive yardage for Hokes Bluff. … 336 — Final offensive yardage for Sardis. … 9.8 — The Eagles averaged 9.8 yards per play. … 47 — This was the 47th meeting between these teams; Hokes Bluff leads the series 27-17-3. … 1 — This was the first time all season a team scored more than 18 points against the Eagles.

Stat Sheet

Gulledge hit on 4-of-7 throws for 141 yards and rushed eight times for 90 yards and picked off a pass on defense for the Eagles. … Eubanks led Hokes Bluff with two catches for 60 yards. … Hill’s lone catch was a 50-yard score. … The Eagles’ Hunter Holcomb fell on a fumble. … To go with his scoring run, Clemons led Hokes Bluff with 15.5 tackles, including two for a loss. … For Sardis, Owens completed 13-of-17 passes for 150 yards and four touchdowns. … In his final outing in a Lion uniform, Drew Vaughn had a big game, gaining 130 yards on 24 attempts. … Hopper, to go with his three touchdown grabs, hauled in six passes for 61 yards and caught a pass for a two-point conversion. … Presley, also a senior, caught three passes for 61 yards.

Up Next

Hokes Bluff (9-1) hosts Central Florence next week in the first round of the playoffs. The season is over for Sardis (3-7).