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Hawks Dominate Hillsborough

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By ADAM ADKINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

SEFFNER - Eric Smith insists he's been saying it for weeks, and if people didn't pay attention to him then, it's probably best they do now.

The way Armwood played Friday night in a 35-0 victory against Hillsborough, it's hard to argue against the points the Hawks senior running back made as he prepared to exit Lyle Flagg Field following his team's Class 4A regional semifinal victory.

"Like I've been telling you in every interview I've had, whenever we got everybody back and everybody rolling, no team in the nation can stop us, I don't care who it is," Smith said. "We probably could play with a couple college teams. We've got everybody back and we're rolling. We've got everybody clicking on all cylinders. We're a great team, we've got a lot of great athletes and good coaches behind us. It's very hard to stop a team like that."

The Hawks victory sets up a highly anticipated rematch in Friday's regional final with defending Class 4A state champion Plant, which defeated Jefferson 40-14. Armwood is the only team to defeat Plant this season, and Plant was the last team to defeat the Hawks, that win coming in last year's regional final at Dad's Stadium.

Friday night was the first time this season Armwood (12-0) had fielded a complete team, and the Hawks in turn displayed their most dominant effort. Smith led the way for the offense, rushing for a game-high 160 yards and three TDs on 19 carries, while the defense limited the Terriers (9-3) to 90 yards of offense and never let them cross midfield, all while contributing a pair of scores of their own.

"It was a good old-fashioned butt kickin'. They took us to the woodshed and beat us in every facet of the game," said Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia, who has been shut out only three times in his career, with two of those occasions coming this season against Armwood. "Our team was not physical enough to hang with them."
Armwood wasted little time setting the tone. After forcing the Terriers to punt on their opening possession, the Hawks marched down the field behind their powerful running game. Smith capped the nine-play, 61-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-short, giving the Hawks a 7-0 lead with 5:50 left in the first quarter.

Things only got worse from there for the Terriers. On the second play of their next possession, Armwood's Justin Williams intercepted Tarean Austin's pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown, and the Hawks led 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game.

"Momentum was never on our side," Garcia said.

The Hawks' defense then forced another three-and-out, and Armwood went back to its running game. Smith capped an eight-play, 44-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to put Armwood ahead 21-0 with 10:49 left in the half, and the game was all but over.

"It was definitely our best game, and it was nice to have everybody back," Armwood coach Sean Callahan said.

A-J. Williams 32 interception return (Skiffington kick)

A-E. Smith 15 run (Skiffington kick)

A-E. Smith 65 run (Skiffington kick)

A-N. Greene 22 fumble return (Skiffington kick)

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 657-4533 or aadkins@tampatrib.com.

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