There was a lot of celebrating on the Collins Hill football field Friday night. Wide receiver Travis Hunter was doing back flips on the sidelines as the last seconds counted off the clock. Coach Lenny Gregory led the team from the end zone to midfield for a group celebration with the Region 8 championship trophy. There were even celebratory T-shirts to honor the team’s year-long mission to “take the win.” The black shirts sweetly said, “We Took the Wins!”
The emotions, kept in a bottle since the last region title in 2013, flowed freely after Collins Hill signed off on a 28-17 win over Mill Creek at Alan Fahring Field.
“It took us four years to get this done,” Collins Hill coach Lenny Gregory said. “Lot of hard work, lot of tough games, lot of work. It’s not just this football game that went into winning this championship.”
The victory allowed the No. 6-ranked Eagles (8-2, 4-0) to win the Region 8 title and advance to the Class 7A playoffs as the No. 1 seed, which guarantees they won’t face top-ranked Grayson until the state final. Mill Creek (4-5, 1-2) has clinched a playoff spot, but needs to finish with a win to earn the third seed.
“It means so much,” Collins Hill quarterback Sam Horn said. “My brother played here and they came close … but the third one in 27 years as a high school, that’s crazy and it’s an amazing feeling to be able to do that.”
Horn had a lot to do with it, too. He completed 25 of 36 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Hunter was on the receiving end of 14 of those passes, good for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s great. Best receiver I’ve ever had,” Horn said. “If you have No. 12 you’re going to get him the ball. No doubt.”
After Mill Creek took the opening drive and got a 36-yard field goal from Brock Pelligrino, the Hawks were on the verge of taking a 10-0 lead. But Jaylen George stripped Mill Creek’s Romeo Pelham as he fought for extra yardage and took over at the 7.
The next play was a 43-yard pass from Horn to Hunter. Seven plays later the Eagles scored on a 20-yard pass to Hunter and never trailed again.
Horn and Hunter hooked up for a 55-yard touchdown on the next possession, a simple throw over the middle that went the distance. Their final touchdown was a perfect toss to Hunter, who was double-covered in the end zone. Somehow he caught the ball for an 18-yard touchdown.
“I knew he was double-covered,” Horn said. “But I knew he’d go up and get it.”
Mill Creek battled for four quarters. The Hawks cut the lead to 14-10 on a 26-yard pass from Hayden Clark to Donovan Journey and drew to within 28-17 on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Clark to Travis Williams. Clark, who faced a barrage of pressure and was sacked four times, still completed 11 of 24 passes for 134 yards. Journey ran for 49 yards in addition to his touchdown catch.
Mill Creek had the ball at the Collins Hill 11 midway in the fourth quarter and elected to try a 33-yard field goal, which sailed wide right. That essentially ended their chances for an upset.
Collins Hill successfully ran the ball in the second half and Spenser Anderson carried 11 times for 68 yards. Clint Gilbert caught five passes for 53 yards and ran for a 6-yard touchdown. Sean Norris caught five passes for 48 yards.
Gregory admitted he looked over all possible playoff scenarios this week. Had the Eagles lost, it would have caused a three-way tie for first place.
“I looked at it many times since Saturday morning, looking at the different scenarios,” he said. "The best scenario is what happened tonight and that was us winning.
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