KERNERSVILLE
Josh Hawkins has been stealing the show for Glenn all season, but last night, he got a big assist from the defense.
The Bobcats' sturdy front line kept High Point Central's Spread offense in check, and Hawkins provided his usual special play as Glenn moved into a tie atop the Piedmont Triad 4-A standings with a rugged 14-7 win over Central.
Hawkins' 50-yard touchdown run with 6:18 left -- set up by a fourth-and-1 stop by the defense -- gave Glenn the lead for good, and the Bobcats' defense had to make one more stand to set up next week's showdown in Jamestown against Ragsdale.
Coach Dick Cline of Glenn spent "11 great years" as the head coach at Ragsdale from 1980 through '91, and next Friday, he will stand on the visitors' sideline there for the first time. Glenn is 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference, and Ragsdale -- which was idle last night -- is 9-0 and 4-0.
"I told Coach (Tommy) Norwood (of Ragsdale), since we are good friends, I said the only nice thing to do was let us be on the home side but I know that ain't going to happen," Cline said. "Its fun, it's exciting, and we know they have a tremendous football team. But our guys have risen to the challenge all year and hopefully it will be another good one."
Glenn's blue-collar, I-Formation offense ground out 223 yards on 43 carries, and Hawkins, a 6-0, 160-pound junior, gained 91 on his first 26 carries.
But after Glenn -- which was limited by poor field position for much of the second half -- stopped running back Al-dequan Teasley of Central at midfield, a half-yard shy of a first down, Hawkins made a play.
Quarterback Tajvio Walker handed to Hawkins on the next play, and Hawkins burst through a hole in the middle of the line, ran past Central's safeties and raced into the end zone to help Glenn go ahead 14-7.
Central drove from its 38 to the Glenn 21, but big Daven Gray and Jake Boger of Glenn got a pass rush and Boger sacked quarterback Drew Adams of Central for an 8-yard loss on first down.
Adams threw three straight incompletions -- one of which was a dropped pass inside the 5 -- and Glenn was able to run off the final 1:54 to seal the win.
"That's the best we have played all year on defense," said Gray, a 6-4, 325-pound senior defensive lineman.
"People look down on us but we keep coming week to week.
"We stick through it all."
Gray nodded his head when asked if he set up Boger's sack.
"I love to see other people get sacks," Gray said. "If I can set it up and he mashes it, I will do it every time."
Cline said that the defensive stop before Hawkins' touchdown run was key.
"We didn't have field position in the second half until that," Cline said. "
We stopped them and (Hawkins was) able to split them there. They have an outstanding football team and it was a great game by both teams. We are happy to come out on the positive end."
Hawkins finished with 169 yards on 27 carries on a night when Walker attempted only three passes. Khiry Sutton added 63 yards on nine carries for Glenn and scored on a 12-yard run in the second quarter.
"Our game plan was to minimize their opportunities and the only bad thing we didn't do was finish," Cline said.
"The time of possession, controlling the ball, all that was what we had hoped to do."
mlinker@wsjournal.com | 727-7324
HP Central 0 7 0 0 -- 7
Glenn 0 7 0 7 -- 14
GL -- Sutton 12 run (Thomlinson kick)
HP -- Teasley 4 run
GL -- Hawkins 50 run (Thomlinson kick)
Records -- HP Central 7-2 (3-1), Glenn 8-1 (4-0)
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