Whatever the Archer Tigers wanted to do offensively against the Mill Creek Hawks, they did. Or, at least that’s how it seemed as they coasted to a 42-0 win on Friday at Archer Community Stadium.
Senior running back Semaje Banks led the way with four touchdowns — two rushing, two receiving — to go with 119 rushing yards and 59 receiving to lead the Tigers (2-1), who entered the non-region contest as the No. 8 team in AAAAAAA.
“The blockers did well and I just followed them,” Banks said. “It was a great team effort. We did good on both sides of the ball, but there’s always room for improvement.”
It was hard to find flaws in the Tigers’ game on Friday. They scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and were up 21-0 after the first quarter. Banks scored on a 17-yard pass from Carter Peevy on fourth-and-1 from the 17 on the game’s opening drive and that was followed by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Peevy to Jeremiah Cook. Banks scored again on a 4-yard reception with six seconds left in the first.
With 7:24 left in the half, Peevy found Braylen Weems on a 24-yard pass to go up 28-0. After junior safety Tyler Roach pulled in an interception, Banks ended a three-play, 42-yard drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown with 5:37. That gave the Tigers a 35-0 lead it would take into halftime.
The Hawks (2-2), who entered the game as AAAAAAA’s No. 10 team, didn’t have an answer for the Tigers’ attack, which used eight different receivers and four different rushers in the first half. Peevy had 246 passing yards and four touchdowns by halftime.
“Every game takes on its own characteristic and we got hot,” Tigers coach Andy Dyer said. “We were able to execute some things that we’d worked on during the week. The quarterback did a fabulous job. It all starts with the line of scrimmage — we controlled that on both sides of the ball — and that allowed us to do everything we were able to do.”
The Hawks’ first-half offensive series’ ended four punts, an interception and a sack for a 7-yard loss as the second quarter expired.
Any hope for a better second half for the Hawks was dashed when they opened with a three-and-out, which was followed by a Banks 67-yard touchdown run the very next play. That brought the score to its final margin with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
A running clock expedited the second half.
Peevy finished 14 of 20 passing for 255 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions as the Tigers finished with 469 total yards of offense. Weems led the Tigers with 70 receiving yards on five catches to go with his touchdown.
The Hawks managed just 121 yards of offense and were shut out for the first time since 2009.
Mill Creek 0 0 0 0 – 0
Archer 21 14 7 0 – 42
A – Semaje Banks 17 pass from Carter Peevy (Jacob Waters kick)
A – Jeremiah Cook 7 pass from Peevy (Waters kick)
A – Banks 4 pass from Peevy (Waters kick)
A – Braylen Weems 24 pass from Peevy (Waters kick)
A – Banks 14 run (Waters kick)
A – Banks 67 run (Waters kick)
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