The Churchill Chargers and the Buda Hays Hawks won a combined 5 games last season.  Each aspires to more than 5 wins in 2022.

Each showed promise in season opening victories.  They face each other Thursday night at Bob Shelton Stadium in Buda.  They met in the season opener last season, a home game won by Hays 42-17.  

In their opener, Churchill won a shootout with Stevens 31-28.  Isaiah Blankenship ran for 218 yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts; Blankenship ran for 206 yards the entire 2021 season.  Hunter Pavlicek completed 8 of 10 passes for 125 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception while rushing for 32 yards.  

The Falcons, 1-9 in 2021, enjoyed the return of fourth-year quarterback K.K. Brashears, who missed the last half of the 2021 season due to injury.  Brashears contributed 348 yards of total offense, and Stevens outgained Churchill 405 to 393; this advantage was offset by Cooper Kounse of the Chargers returning a first-quarter interception 35 yards for a touchdown.

Buda Hays dominated Austin Akins in their opener 64-14, led by Kyree Payton’s 200 yard rushing performance.

Hays (1-0) were region champions in 2020 before suffering through a 3-7 season in 2021.  One of Hays’ 3 wins in 2021 was 42-17 in their season opener against Churchill.  The dropoff can be attributed to the opening of Buda Johnson; with a smaller enrollment, Hays is playing 5A football for the first time since the 6A classification was created in 2014.  The competition will remain strong; Hays is joined by Wagner and Boerne Champion in 12-5A-I as teams that have won a region championship within the last three seasons.

Churchill (1-0) is chasing their first winning season since their fourth-round showing in 2016, and their first playoff berth since 2018.  Their district, 28-6A, saw its football competition stiffen when Marshall, a playoff team in 2021, replaced a struggling MacArthur program.  After the Hays game, Churchill will open district play against Madison.

Mark Kusenberger

August 28, 2022 

Read more from Mark on his blog at https://mkusenberger.wixsite.com/website/blog