The South Hamilton Hawks made the long trek south to Guthrie Center on Friday night, to take on the AC/GC Chargers in the 1st round of the Class 1A Playoffs. It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams, as the Chargers entered as the runners-up in Class 1A, District 7.
AC/GC bolted out of the gate, forcing a South Hamilton turnover on the Hawks first possession, turning it into points on a Gavin Cornelison touchdown to put the Chargers up 7-0. After a South Hamilton punt, AC/GC would march down the field and score again on a 5-yard touchdown run by Cornelison to put the Chargers up 14-0. South Hamilton would not lie down, as the Hawks mounted a long drive that was capped off by a short Austin Busch touchdown run to make the score 14-6. The Chargers answered with their longest run of the night, by the fullback Gavin Cornelison, for a 59-yard touchdown to put AC/GC up 21-6. South Hamilton had a response as fullback Austin Busch broke off a 31-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14 headed into halftime.
AC/GC received the 2nd half kickoff, and quickly made their way down the field in a drive capped off by Gavin Cornelison’s 4th touchdown, to put the Chargers up 28-14. South Hamilton would, again, have a response, as a long Hawks drive resulted in Austin Busch’s 3rd touchdown of the night, to cut the score 28-22 in the 4th quarter. The Chargers would then put the pedal to the metal, as Gavin Cornelison scored 2 more touchdowns, finishing with 6 total and 333 yards rushing as AC/GC slammed the door on the Hawks by a final of 40-22.
South Hamilton ends their season at 4-5 following their 4th playoff appearance in 5 years. AC/GC advances to the 2nd round, where they will face South Central Calhoun in Lake City on Friday.