Hawk Stadium erupted Friday night after Canyon Lake notched the first truly meaningful win in the young school’s history, scoring 14 fourth-quarter points to come back and beat Blanco 21-14.
“This is the biggest win in this school’s history, now let’s not make it the last,” Hawks coach Matt Monzingo told his team after the game, with fans still screaming after a dramatic down-to-the-wire victory over a Blanco team that beat Canyon Lake 63-0 last year.
In Canyon Lake’s third year of existence, it was the first football game ever played by the school’s seniors and they made it count.
The Hawk defense held Blanco star running back Layton Dworaczyk to under 100 yards on the ground, and senior quarterback Ross Wagliardo threw for 315 yards including two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to seal the win.
“This was huge,” said Wagliardo, who bounced back from two first-half interceptions. “The defense stepped up and everybody pitched in.”
Trailing 14-7 at the end of the third quarter, Wagliardo threw an eight-yard touchdown to Christian Pena to tie the game to open the fourth quarter.
The Hawks defense then forced a three-and-out before the senior again led Canyon Lake down the field.
This time he went 4-for-4 on a drive capped by a 24-yard strike to senior receiver Eric Nelson to put Canyon Lake up 21-14.
The defense, who stymied the Panthers all night, held off a desperation charge by Blanco to end the game.
After driving into Hawks territory, Blanco quarterback Tanner Rogers sailed an errant pass that was picked off Canyon Lake defender Todd Pippin with only 54 seconds left.
And three snaps later, Canyon Lake started a season 1-0 for the first time in school history.
“My hat’s off to them, those kids played hard,” said Blanco coach Danny Rogers. “They took it to us and we couldn’t handle it.”
Although it ended well, the start of the game looked a lot like last year for Canyon Lake, when it won a single game all season.
The Hawks first three plays were a false start, a sack and an interception.
On their next possession Wagliardo threw his second interception, this one returned for 52 yards by Blanco’s Ethan Evans to give the Panthers an early 7-0 lead.
The Hawks bounced back when they got the ball, with Wagliardo completing passes of 18, 22, 23 and 12 yards before scoring on a three-yard sneak to tie the game.
After halftime, a re-energized Panther team began running the ball effectively for the first time, with senior Corey Dowlearn scoring from 28 yards out to put Blanco back on top, 14-7.
But the potent Hawks passing attack and a tough defense proved to be the difference, giving a young team its first chance to savor a winning record.
“This was a big win for our program and a big win for our school,” Monzingo said.
