The McEachern Indians (1-3) took a short drive to Hillgrove High School (1-1) to face off in a West Cobb rivalry game Friday night.

With a stadium packed with fans, the atmosphere was riveting as the Indians and Hawks fought back and forth during the first quarter. Both defenses forced back-to-back punts to the other end of the field.

McEachern struck first with a 40-yard touchdown from #21 RB Mekhi Crawley. A 2-point conversion made the score 8-0.

The start of the second quarter came with another strike by the Indians by #34 Victor Okafor. The extra point was good to make the score 15-0.

Mid-second quarter, the Indian defense stuffed the Hawk offense, forcing a field goal to make the score 15-3.

The Hawks finally found an offensive groove nearing the end of the first half with a 10-yard rushing touchdown by #18 RB T.J. Thomas. The extra point was good, making the score 15-10 with the Indians still in the lead.

The Hawks took control near the end of the half with a pick-6 thrown by #3 QB Bryce Archie. The 2-point conversion was good to make the score 18-15, giving Hillgrove its first lead of the game .

The Hawks started the second half strong with a touchdown pass from #8 QB Theo Tatum to #19 WR Cayden Lee to extend Hillgrove’s lead to 24-15.

Both teams battled the rest of the third quarter with no scoring until the end. The Indians scored a 10-yard rushing touchdown by #22 RB Makari Bodiford. The extra point was good, cutting the Hawk lead to 2 points, 24-22.

The fourth quarter started off well for Hillgrove with the opening drive resulting in a 60-yard passing touchdown by #8 QB Theo Tatum to #6 WR Jalen Royals. The extra point made the score 31-22 in favor of the Hawks.

In the following drive, the Indians answered with a 5-yard rushing touchdown from #34 Victor Okafor, cutting the lead back to 2 points, 31-29.

In response, the Hawks ate up 74 yards and a lot of clock to be rewarded with yet another visit to the end zone. A 5-yard quarterback keeper gave the Hawks six more points. The extra point was good to make the score 38-29.

Mceachern and Hillgrove fought back and forth in a rowdy game where the Hawks came up as the winners with a final score of 38-29.

The  Mceachern Indians take on the Newton Rams next week while the Hillgrove Hawks take on the Morrow Mustangs.