Luis Garcia-Cano kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give fourth-ranked Hillgrove a 23-20 victory over No. 5 Walton in the second round of the Class AAAAAAA playoffs Friday in Powder Springs.
Hillgrove, the Region 3 champion, will be at home in the quarterfinals next Friday against Region 5 champion Milton (10-2), which advanced with a 24-3 victory over Mill Creek. Hillgrove is 12-0 for the first time in school history and in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2014.
Garcia-Cano’s game-winning kick capped a nine-play drive that began at the Hillgrove 40 when the Hawks covered a pooch kickoff after Walton had tied the score with 4:29 to play. After an 8-yard pass from Matthew McCravy to Isaiah Grant on the first play, the Hawks ran the ball eight consecutive times as they moved the ball into field-goal position and ran down the clock. Issaiah McCray ran five times for 29 yards on the drive.
That set the stage for Garcia-Cano, who had not handled any place-kicking duties since Oct. 5 because of a torn meniscus. He punted against Walton and kicked the Hawks’ final extra point.
“I haven’t kicked for a while in a game, but this week I was trying to kick some in practice because I knew it could come down to it because Walton’s such a good team,” Garcia-Cano said. “I’ve been kicking pretty good in practice, so I knew I could handle it today.”
The final score wasn’t the only number that indicated how evenly matched these Cobb County teams were, as Walton finished with a 276-261 advantage in total offense. Walton got most its yards in the passing game, throwing for 238 (171 by Austin Kirksey and 67 by Zak Rozsman). Hillgrove got 182 on the ground on 43 carries, led by McCray with 85 and Trevor Smith with 71.
“I thought our offense hung in and fought and stayed the course,” Hillgrove coach Phil Ironside said. “Our defense did what we thought. I told the [defensive] coaches, ‘I feel in my heart that y’all are going to play a great game.’ Very equal teams. That’s what it was.”
Despite the relatively low offensive numbers, both teams had scoring opportunities, but the Hawks made the most of theirs. Hillgrove got inside the Walton 40-yard line four times and came away with three touchdowns a field goal,
Walton (10-2), on the other hand, missed a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter, lost a fumble at the Hillgrove 2-yard line that rolled out of the end zone for a touchback, had a kickoff-return touchdown by Dominick Blaylock nullified by a penalty, and turned the ball over on downs at the Hillgrove 35 early in the third quarter.
Blaylock, the five-star wide receiver recruit who is committed to Georgia, had another big night in his final game as a high school player. He had 13 receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown, ran for 6 yards on six carries and added an interception on defense.
Hillgrove got the early lead on a 4-yard run by T.J. Thomas midway through the second quarter to complete a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Walton’s Jack Westbrock kicked a 27-yard field goal late in the first half and a 36-yarder midway through the third quarter to cut the lead to 7-6.
McCravy’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Kawa pushed the lead back to 13-6 with 2:26 to play in the third quarter, but Walton finally pulled even on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kirksey to Kendall Alford on the final play of the quarter.
The teams traded touchdowns again in the fourth - a 1-yard run by Hillgrove’s Smith and a 15-yard pass from Walton’s Rozsman to Blaylock - before Hillgrove’s winning kick.
“Huge,” Ironside said of having Garcia-Cano available for the field-goal attempt. “He told me about a week ago, ‘Coach, I can kick the field goals now.’ He’s had a torn meniscus, it’s all he can do to kick, and now he’s won the ballgame and put us in the quarterfinals.”
Walton - 0-3-10-7 - 20
Hillgrove - 0-7-6-10 - 23
Second quarter
H - T.J. Thomas 4 run (Jonathan Grote kick), 5:34
W - Jack Westbrock 27 field goal, 1:31
Third quarter
W - Westbrock 36 field goal, 6;09
H - Cameron Kawa 11 pass from Matthew McCravy (kick failed), 2:26
W - Kendall Alford 16 pass from Austin Kirksey (Westbrock kick), 0:00
Fourth quarter
H - Trevor Smith 1 run (Luis Garcia-Cano kick), 7:20
W - Dominick Blaylock 15 pass from Zak Rozsman (Westbrock kick), 4:29
H - Garcia-Cano 31 field goal, 0:00
About the Author
