Eagles get it done the Hardin way

Neither rain, nor wind, nor gloom of night nor especially the Casady Cyclones could stop the Hennessey running game.

The Eagles on Thursday night racked up a season-high - by far - 532 rushing yards en route to a 48-21 road win over Casady in Oklahoma City.

The game was pushed up a day as the teams tried to avoid predicted inclement weather on Friday. Still, there were two lightning delays and the game didn’t end until almost midnight.

“It was pretty wild with the weather, but a very enjoyable victory nonetheless,” said head coach Mark Cox.

Hennessey only got to enjoy one such victory last year, the first season with Cox at the helm as head coach.

However, the Eagles finished the 2024 regular season with a 6-4 mark. They were 5-2 in District 2A-II-1 games, good for third place.

What led to such a big turnaround in such a short amount of time?

“I think we have a group of really good senior leaders who wanted to have a successful, fun senior year and were willing to work to make that happen,” Cox said. “We have several seniors who are new to the team this year and several seniors who played last year, but they all came together as a team to work toward common goals.”

And they’ve also shown strong leadership, he said.

“They have all done a good job of helping our younger guys improve and stay on track with what we’re trying to do as well,” Cox continued. “So, I would say that our seniors are the biggest reason for the turnaround we have made this season.”

Two of those seniors quarterback Gunnar Hold-er and running back Jessin Hardin - had career nights running the ball.

Holder rushed 33 times for 254 yards and two scores.

Hardin found the end zone three times and tallied 203 yards on his 14 attempts.

All told, the Eagles ran the ball 60 times while Holder attempted only 10 passes in the wet, slippery conditions.

Hennessey’s rushing attempts was twice its average coming into the game.

“We ran the ball a lot more than usual due, in part, to the fact that the rain was making our passing game difficult to execute effectively,” Cox said. “But, also, we were having a tremendous amount of success running the ball. Our guys up front blocked their tails off and our running backs and quarterback ran the ball well, so we just stuck with it.”

Hardin put the Eagles on the scoreboard twice in the first quarter as he had rushing TDs of 1 and 35 yards.

After Casady cut the lead to 13-7, Hennessey closed the half with two more TDs.

Braedyn Richardson scored on a 4-yard run and then Holder from 3 yards out.

Hardin made it 34-7 in the third quarter with a 12yard TD play.

The Cyclones sprinkled in touchdown passes in the third and fourth quarters, but never could slow down the Eagles.

Holder had an 8-yard TD run in the fourth and Richardson closed out the scoring with a 2-yard score.

Richardson finished with 42 yards on seven attempts.

Hennessey snapped the ball 70 times on offense while Casady ran just 32 plays.

Ethan Hamilton did throw for 324 yards and had two receivers eclipse 130 yards through the air. However, he was also picked off three times.

Hagan Copeland had two of those interceptions while Kevin Trillo picked off the other.

Copeland finished the game with a team-high seven tackles. Trillo had five, as did Richardson and Nic Moery.

Hennessey will stay on the road to begin the playoffs.

The Eagles travel to Davis next Friday for the first round. The Wolves beat Community Christian 4521 Thursday to finish their regular season with a 6-4 mark.

They were second place in 6A-II-2 with a 6-1 record.