The Hendricken Hawks outlasted the Toll Gate Titans, 39-28, on Thanksgiving Day at Toll Gate High School.

Hawks head coach Keith Croft used the game to rest his starters while giving some playing time to his reserves. The Hawks still have to prepare for their state championship rematch against the La Salle Academy Rams on Saturday at noon.

 “We played some guys that need a little work, needed a little time, some of our varsity guys and younger guys, a good mix,”  Croft said.

During a Toll Gate punt early, Hendricken linebacker Mason Carr got a hand on it and the Hawks took over at their own 35-yard line.

It didn’t take Hendricken long to score after that.

On third down, running back Devin Rivet rushed down the left sideline 60 yards to pay dirt to put the Hawks up 7-0 with 7:27 left in the first quarter.

Hendricken took over again with great field position after a Toll Gate punt landed at the Toll Gate 31-yard line. An illegal shift penalty on the Hawks’ offense didn’t discourage it. On second-and-22 from the Toll Gate 43-yard line, Tim Picard completed a pass deep to wide receiver Preston Santos for a touchdown to put the Hawks up 14-0 with 5:11 left in the first quarter.

Toll Gate started its next possession at its own 30-yard line. Then, it was a little bad and a whole lot of good for the Titans. On first down, running back Alex Mowry suffered a 2-yard loss. On second down, Vann connected on a swing pass to fullback Brandon Neiwert for a 4-yard completion. On third-and-8, Mowry rushed left for a gain of 12 yards and a first down. Next, from the Titans’ own 44-yard line, Mowry ran again, this time for three yards. On third down, Vann heaved it to Rory Dobbins for a gain of 26 yards, giving the Titans the ball at the Hawks’ 25-yard line. Next, Vann fired to Mowry for a 14-yard gain. On third-and-goal from the 4-yard line, defensive back Carlo Merola broke up Vann’s pass to Pona in the end zone. But on fourth down, Vann lobbed to wide receiver Qyon Pichardo for a touchdown to pull Toll Gate to within 14-6 with 11:53 left in the second quarter.

The Hawks took over at their own 20-yard line after the Toll Gate kickoff went for a touchback. On second down, Picard passed to Bret Langlais for a 12-yard gain. From their own 35-yard line, running back Rondie Almeida ran six yards. After the Hawks’ offense was flagged for an illegal shift, Toll Gate was flagged on the next play after an 8-yard run by Rivet. Fifteen yards was added to the end of the run and the Hawks had the ball at the Toll Gate 40-yard line. Next, Picard threw to Santos for a 28-yard gain to the Toll Gate 12-yard line. Then, Picard found Santos for a touchdown to put the Hawks up 20-6 with 9:04 left in the first half.

Mowry returned the ensuing kickoff to the Toll Gate 30-yard line. On first down, Vann tossed to Pichardo, who took it 70 yards to the house with 8:39 left in the half, pulling the Titans to 20-12.

Santos returned the following kickoff to the Toll Gate 47-yard line. On first down, Picard threw to Langlais up the middle for an 11-yard gain. On the next two plays, the Hawks were penalized for holding. On second-and-22, Picard ran a quarterback sneak through defenders for a 20-yard gain. On third-and-2, running back Kurt Rousseau rushed up the middle 16 yards. On first down, Rousseau ran three yards. Next, Picard completed a 6-yard pass to Santos. On third-and-1, Picard found wide receiver Luke Swift for a 17-yard touchdown with 4:37 left in the half. The score gave the Hawks a 27-12 edge.

Toll Gate couldn’t get anything going on the next drive and punted.

After an offside penalty on Toll Gate, the Hawks faced a second-and-3 from midfield. Picard tossed to Santos for a first down. However, two plays later, Picard’s pass was picked off by Pichardo, who was playing safety.

Toll Gate took charge from its own 32-yard line. Mowry rushed three times, totaling 11 yards and a first down. However, a holding penalty on first down would set the Titans back ten yards and end the offensive threat. On fourth-and-17 from their own 35-yard line, they punted to Hendricken while time expired, ending the first half.

Each team had a short offensive possession to start the half, with Hendricken receiving the opening kickoff before punting away. But Hendricken’s defense stood tall on Toll Gate’s ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the Hawks’ offense.

On first down, Rivet rushed 13 yards to the Hendricken 27-yard line. On the next play, Hendricken was flagged for holding and faced a second-and-17 from its own 20-yard line. Rivet rushed right, before getting knocked out of bounds at the Hendricken 28-yard line. On third-and-8, Picard tossed to Santos who took it 73 yards for the touchdown. The Hawks increased their lead to 33-12 with 5:20 left in the third quarter.

Toll Gate’s offense couldn’t get going on the next drive and punted on a fourth-and-8 to the Hendricken 15-yard line.

The Hawks would strike again. On second down, Rivet ran up the middle 73 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hawks a 39-12 advantage with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

Toll Gate punted again, after failing to move the ball on its next possession.

The Hawks took over at their own 35-yard line. Alexander Mulvey, Hendricken’s third-string quarterback, came in to relieve Picard. On his first play, he handed to running back Jacob Lepre who rushed 11 yards. Lepre rushed the next three downs, totaling just five yards. On fourth-and-5 from midfield, Lepre was stuffed. Toll Gate took over possession at the 50-yard line. 

Mowry rushed twice for six yards. On third-and-4, from the Hendricken 44-yard line, Mowry rushed nine yards for a first down. On second down, Mowry ran again, this time for a gain of ten yards and another Titan first down, at the Hendricken 24-yard line. On the next play, Vann passed to senior wide receiver Patrick McMahon, who scored his first-career touchdown. The score pulled the Titans to 39-20 after Mowry ran in the 2-point conversion with 8:10 left to play.

Hendricken couldn’t move the chains on its next drive and punted to the Titans, who took over at their own 34-yard line.

Toll Gate got right back to business. Neiwert plowed up the middle six yards to the Toll Gate 40-yard line. An offsides penalty on the Hawks moved the ball to the Toll Gate 45-yard line and gave the Titans a first down. Mowry took the rock right for 11 yards and another first down. Neiwert ran eight yards on second down. On third-and-2, Neiwert plowed forward six yards, giving the Titans another first down at the Hendricken 31-yard line. On first down, Neiwert ran again, six yards, followed by a 5-yard run by Mowry for a first down. From the 19-yard line, Neiwert rushed up the middle three yards. On second-and-7, Mowry rushed left for an 11-yard gain. On first-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Neiwert rushed up the middle in for six to pull the Titans to 39-26. Neiwert followed the touchdown by also running in the 2-point conversion, making the score 39-28 with 16.8 seconds left to play in the game.   

Toll Gate’s starters played well despite the loss. Vann completed 10 of 25 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Mowry rushed 24 times for 95 yards and had 11 yards receiving. Pichardo had two receptions for 79 yards, including two touchdowns.

Toll Gate assistant coach Jack Paliotte was happy with his team’s effort.

“The seniors did a great job of leading all week and they came out with a real positive attitude,” Paliotte said. “They gave it everything they had and they’ve done that all year. I give them a lot of credit. We’re a little undermanned here, but it’s a tough bunch of seniors and underclassmen. The future is promising. We’ll see what happens.”

Paliotte sees improvement in his sophomore quarterback, Vann.

“He started as a freshman,” Paliotte said. “You groom him. We didn’t throw the ball a lot this year, but it’s progression. I think next year you’ll see us a little different. How we play the offense and I think that’ll be because of his growth. I think it’ll be positive.”

The Hendricken backups were sharp. Picard ended the day with four touchdowns – three of them were to Santos.

“Picard looked good,” Croft said. “He was throwing the ball, slinging it around. He looked like an All-Pro.”

Croft loved what he saw out of Santos as well.

“He’s a sophomore and he’s got a lot of potential,” Croft said. “He’s gotta keep working at it.”