By Terry Cookston
Herald-Banner Sports
Rockwall-Heath quarterback Kevin Rodgers passed for 316 yards and accounted for three touchdowns to spearhead the No. 11-ranked Hawks to a 31-24 Homecoming victory over Royse City on Friday at Wilkerson-Sanders Stadium.
The 6-3, 210-pound senior posted touchdowns on a 1-yard run and on 22 and 26 yard pass completions to WR Cameron Wilson.
It was a good day all around for Rodgers who was also crowned Homecoming King in pre-game ceremonies alongside Homecoming Queen Katy Ray.
In game action the Hawks gave up an early 3-0 lead to Rockwall County neighbor Royse City when kicker Sterling Mullen nailed a 33-yard field goal on the Bulldogs opening possession.
But, RHHS took the lead on its second possession when Rodgers banged into the end zone from 1-yard out after a 7-play, 71-yard drive with 2:40 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Trevor Pinkston on their next possession after a bad snap put RHHS in a 4th-and-11 with 6:45 remaining in the second period.
Royse City answered with a 5-play, 75-yard drive capped off with a 4-yard TD run by Ryan Fedric to close out the first-half scoring. The fiesty Bulldogs carried a 10-10 tie into the halftime break.
Heath came out strong in the third period and scored on two highlight-reel pass completions of 22 and 26 yards from Rodgers to Wilson.
The Hawks hit the end zone again on their first possession of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard off-tackle run by Jesse Irokwe to take a 31-10 lead. The drive started at the 50-yard line after Cole Abston sacked Royse City QB Taylor Corbin on a 4th-and-10 attempt.
But, Royse City needed only three plays to score on its next possession on a 46-yard scamper by Fedric to close the gap to 14 at 31-17.
The RHHS defensive backs stepped up with big plays by Undre' Bynum, Armando Villa and Jovan Hernandez on the Bulldogs next possession and forced Royse City to turn the ball back over to the Hawks with 2:56 left on the game.
But, Heath was forced to punt at the 1:25 mark and the Bulldogs scored one final time on a 9-yard TD strike from Corbin-to-Kristopher Smith with only .07 seconds remaining.
A return from the 20 to the 50 by Villa ran off the final seconds and gave the Hawks the 31-24 victory.
Rodgers went 20-of-27 passing for 316 yards for the night with Wilson hauling in 7-for-135 yards and two TDs, Tyler Harding catching 5-for-74 yards, Ryan Peterson pulling down 4-for-63 yards, Clark Pope grabbing 3-for-40 yards and Sebastian McGill adding 1-for-4 yards.
Irokwe led Hawk rushers with 87 yards on 20 carries, Rodgers ran eight times for 68 yards and McGill put up 14 yards on four carries.
Royse City QB Corbin posted his top numbers of the season with 27-of-46 passing for 438 yards and two TDs, with Smith pulling down 10-for-174 yards and one TD.
