PG Routs Frisco, Prepares for Liberty-Eylau
The Pleasant Grove Hawks improved to 3-0 on the season with last Friday nights big 43-13 win in Frisco.
The victory avenged a similar loss to Frisco last year and this time it was son, PG Head Coach Josh Gibson's team coming out on top of his Dad's team. Gibson was thrilled with the outcome, " It was a great experience and awesome win for our program. To come out with a win against a bigger school that has had a lot of success the past 7 years was awesome."
Gibson stresses improvement each week, and he says they are seeing some improvement on the offensive line play. He believes they took a step, but says they have some big steps to take. He believes the line will continue to grow and will continue to get more physical. The Hawks had a pretty big night on the ground with almost 250 yards gained.
PG was doing so well on the ground, that passes were sparing, but Sophomore Quarterback Ben Harmon connecting on several long gainers. Gibson is pleased with what the passing attack has accomplished in the first three games of the season, "Ben had a great pass to Xavier on the long TD. We also had another deep ball that was caught by our WR going out of bounds." Gibson notes that Harmon has only thrown 1 interception in the first three games.
A huge part of the game, and the fact that the Hawks got off to such a good start, was the turnovers that the defense caused in the first half that lead to 22 points for PG. Gibson said, " I know my dad was frustrated with his team turning the ball over so much. I was proud of our kids for capitalizing on those miscues."
Next up for the Hawks is the short trip across town to take on the speedy Liberty-Eylau Leopards. Gibson believes the Leopards to be one of the fastest, most athletic teams in the state and was impressed by the points scored against two #1 programs, Carthage and Gilmer. It is a concern to the coach, "They are dangerous offensively. We will have to minimize their big play ability."
Gibson believes, the keys to winning and staying unbeaten, will be to play hard and smart. Minimize those big plays and create some turnovers on defense again this week. On offense he once again uses the word "physical", and not committing turnovers themselves.
Getting better every week has been the motto and that hopefully will continue. Gibson says its a team effort, "Each week we need to take a step at EVERY position. That's how we measure our team....ARE WE GROWING AND GETTING BETTER? To do that, we ALL have to improve technically and schematically each week."
The trip to Frisco was a success on the field, but Gibson was just has happy with the off the field time spent, " I was extremely proud of how our young men traveled and represented Pleasant Grove. We had compliments from hotel staff, as well as Frisco ISD of how we conducted ourselves. I'm always proud of how good our kids are."
These Hawks continue to grow and their potential is unlimited. It will be an exciting match-up with L-E on Friday night. Don't miss it, be sure and attend, there are bound to be plenty of fireworks on the field.
Kickoff is 7:30 at Harris Field.