HENDERSON PREVIEW: Pleasant Grove ranked #1 in Texas Class 4A Division II after first week of football
Pleasant Grove's performance against Paris last Friday put the Hawks on top of this week's ranking of Texas' Class 4A Division II football.
Pleasant Grove Offensive Lineman Connor Stanfill proclaimed the news on Twitter with a bold remark: "We Coming!!!"
And Hawk fans all around the Four States are celebrating, too.
The closer than many expected PG vs. Paris game (22-16) kept the Hawks in pole position. However, the Wildcats were not included in the Top 10 this week of Dave Campbell's Texas Football rankings.
Second place in the ranking was Jasper with West Orange-Stark, Cuero and Waco Connally rounding out the Top 5 teams.
Another Ark-La-Tex team, Gilmer, is sixth in the ranking. Silsbee, Lubbock Estacado, Graham, and Sunnyvale complete the Top 10.
What to make of Henderson:
Virtually every pundit believes Pleasant Grove will easily topple Henderson, and they will.
However, Henderson shut-out Whitehouse on August 30 by a score of 23-0.
So expect Henderson to have more life than expected against the dominant PG Hawks, but there is a possibility Friday could be a bloodbath for the Lions.
Coaching:
After six years at PG, Josh Gibson is feeling the love across the city. And Texarkana football fans are confident the Hawks will continue the new tradition of a state championship game.
This week's matchup against Henderson will be part of the "journey" Coach Gibson frequently talks about as the team tries to make sure its players are battle-ready for skirmishes to come.
Pleasant Grove also hopes to improve even further upon its successful 2018 performance when the Hawks were faced with losing many of its standouts from the 2017 state championship-winning team.
Pleasant Grove also hopes to improve even further upon its successful 2018 performance when the Hawks were faced with losing many of its standouts from the 2017 state championship-winning team.
With 25 lettermen back this year and only 13 lettermen lost, the Hawks have a chance to dominate the 4A competition.
To do that, PG first needs a convincing win against the Henderson Lions on Friday.
Conclusion:
All signs point to success for Pleasant Grove.
#GoHawks
#GoHawks
