GALT, CA (MPG) - The Liberty Ranch Hawks were hoping to rack up their first league win of the season when they played Union Mine on Friday, Sept. 20. Unfortunately, the Diamond Backs had other ideas with their relentless driving game and took the win 49-23.

 Union Mine started the game with an onside kick and recovered the ball on the 48-yard line. They then began their driving game, rushing up the middle almost every play. In fact, they didn’t throw the ball once in the first half.  It took six plays for the Diamond Backs to score with 9:09 remaining in the first quarter.

Hope burned eternal when Hawk Oscar Romero received the kickoff and ran it all the way for a Hawk touchdown, tying the score 7-7 with 8:57 left in the first quarter.

After the kickoff, Union Mine rushed play after play and methodically worked their way down the field. They burned up the clock and scored again with 2:07 left in the first quarter.  

The Hawk offense got to work but was forced to punt just as the first-quarter buzzer sounded. 

Union Mine continued to drive, gaining yards and scored again with 4:40 left in the first half; the extra-point kick was good, bringing the score to 7-21.

Hawks quarterback Wyatt Blevins was able to connect with receiver “Stinky” Nuno and get a first down. The Union Mine defense managed to hold them back, so with the clock running the Hawks called in James Rangel and he scored on a 30-yard field goal with 23.6 seconds left in the half. The score was then Liberty 10, Diamond Backs 21 at the half.

Liberty Ranch kicked off at the start of the second half. Union mine continued to rush up the middle until they ran a trick play where the quarterback pretended to be walking off the field and then turned and ran up the side, gaining some yards. The drive ended in another touchdown for Union Mine, bringing the score to 10-28.

On the ensuing Hawk possession, Blevins threw out of bounds, then was sacked. Though they fought for every inch, the Hawks were forced to punt again with 5:30 left in the third quarter.

Next, the Union Mine rusher broke free from the defense and scored with 2:17 left in the third, making the score 10-35. 

Liberty never gave up and Blevins connected with Joseph Brown, scoring a touchdown with 1:03 left in the quarter. 

Union Mine wasn’t finished and broke free on a 50-yard run and scored with 17 seconds left in the third quarter: 17-41.

On their next possession, the Hawks turned the ball over on downs and the defense got to work. The Hawks held strong and stopped Union Mine on their one-yard line, giving the ball back to the Hawks offense.

Unfortunately, on the first play, way deep in Hawk territory, they fumbled and Union Mine recovered the ball. The Diamond Backs took advantage of that field position and scored on their third down with 6:04 left in the game.

The Hawks weren’t done and successfully battled to close the gap and scored one more time with 4:15 left in the game. Final score: 23-49.

The Hawks will look for their first league win this Friday, Sept. 27 during Homecoming, when they face Argonaut at home after press time.