By Sydney Williams
Staff Writer

Coppell’s district opener against the Hebron Hawks was all it was payed out to be. A defensive battle between two of the area’s top units.

“We knew they were really talented, really fast and athletic, [so] we wanted to be aggressive but we [also] didn’t want to take any chances,” junior quarterback Skyler Bonneau said.

In the end, however, Bonneau and the Cowboy offense came out 10 points ahead, as Coppell handled the Hawks 24-14.

Bonneau set the tone early in the first quarter, when he ran straight up the middle for a six-yard score. This was the first of three touchdowns the Cowboys would put on the scoreboard at Buddy Echols Field.

But Hebron fought right back. Hawks senior quarterback Carson Proffitt found senior receiver/defensive back Jamal Adams streaking down the left sideline for a 75-yard toss and seven points for Hebron.

This back-and-forth style continued throughout the game. Bonneau hit junior running back Charles West for a 35-yard touchdown to put the Cowboys ahead by 7.

Yet, behind the strong ground attack of the Hawks and senior running back Treyvon Hughes, Hebron found the endzone once more, with Adams taking a handoff around right tackle for three yards.

Coppell went into halftime with a lead on Adam Centers’ 24-yard field goal, and emerged from the locker room ready to shut Hebron out in the second half. And they did just that.

The defense held Hebron without a point in the second half for just the second time this season.

The defensive effort was punctuated appropriately by junior defensive end Chris Biggurs, who ripped the ball out of Proffitt’s grasp on a routine scramble, a fumble the Cowboys recovered that ultimately led to sophomore running back Brandon Rice’s first varsity touchdown, icing the game.

“I was excited for Chris Biggurs to cause the fumble, and I felt like we created a lot of momentum there when we did it,” Coach Joe McBride said.

Coppell, which turns its attention to the Flower Mound Jaguars to cap off homecoming week next Friday, will need more of the same if it wishes to follow last year’s same path to the postseason.