The big blue machine from Easter Hills rolls into Pennington Field this Friday on a quest to dethrone the king of the hill, Celina.
Coming off a shocking win against Kennedale, Eastern Hills has drawn currently undefeated 4A 2024 State champions, Celina in the Area round of the UIL 4A Division 2 playoffs. Hills’ ground and aerial attacks pushed them past Kennedale, but Celina’s dominant win in the bi-district round was a little too easy. Celina has yet to face a true challenge this season as they finished the regular season with an undefeated record. Can Hills challenge them and detour their path to back-to-back championships? They believe they can!
Last week, facing Kennedale, the Highlanders’ belief in themselves and their game powered them past a formidable Kennedale team. When asked about it, Coach Devin Anderson said, “Nobody believe it, nobody but our kids! We have 17 sophomores on varsity, we’re young. This was important for us to come out and win a playoff game so they can see that hard work pays off.”
Hills has its own challenges to overcome. After sprinting to a commanding 67 yard touchdown and making plays all over the field, Hills game breaker, Prince Hill went down and didn’t return. He was later carted off the sidelines and placed in an ambulance in the waning moments of the game. Reflecting on their camaraderie, Coach Anderson praised his young team’s effort without their senior leader, “The kids banded together to win the game for him!” The Highlanders remained focused against Kennedale but will need his star power against an indomitable Celina team.
Preview tonight’s matchup on MaxPreps.com
With or without Hill, the Highlanders’ defense will need to make needed adjustments sooner. Kennedale stayed in the game, gaining ground on a variety of pitches, tosses and sweeps. The Highlanders never seemed to adjust or blitz to interrupt the predictable plays. Celina will surely take advantage of their lack of adjustments.
This matchup could be a slugfest, but if Celina gets rolling early, the knockout punch could be delivered well before halftime. Hills has some fight so expect a good game. Look for Jamarion Hardemon to have another big game tonight! Where? He’s everywhere! Hills’ two-way dominance in skill positions on offense and defense carried them to victory, but they’ll need endurance to outlast Celina’s relentless offensive pursuit and stifling defense. Other game breakers to watch are Prince Hill and Chris Johnson who are the first rushing tandem to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards from scrimmage in decades at Hills. Defensive juggernaut Daniel Nyakundi disrupted plays all over the field against Kennedale and he’s looking to disrupt and detour the Bobcats all night. The Highlanders are hungry. The tale of the tape says they’re up against insurmountable odds, but one thing remains…they believe!
It’s the playoffs and anything can happen in the playoffs. Hills believes there’s no challenge too big for them! In a David vs. Goliath matchup in the Area round of the UIL 4A D2 playoffs, the bigger they are, the harder they fall! We’ll see who’s standing when the clock hits zero at Pennington Field tonight.
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