Henderson Helps Hancock Upset 8th-Ranked Canyons 34-29
Shane Henderson, Joel Enriquez, Mershad Dillon and Demetrius Johnson made the most out of their final games as members of the Allan Hancock College football team as the sophomores led the Bulldogs to a 34-29 upset victory over conference champion College of the Canyons on Saturday. The three were among the fifteen sophomores honored prior to the Bulldogs' final game of the season at Righetti High.
The Bulldogs handed Canyons its first conference loss of the season and won for the first-time at home this year. Hancock finished the season 3-7 overall and 2-4 in conference. The Bulldogs finished tied for fifth in the National Division's Northern Conference. Canyons, which entered the game ranked 8th in the state poll and 5th in the Southern California regional poll, dropped to 8-2 on the year and 5-1 in conference action.
Henderson put the Bulldogs ahead for good on Hancock's second drive of the game. The sophomore hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Troy Prober with 8:37 to play in the first quarter. Canyons answered with a 2-yard touchdown run, but failed to convert its two-point conversion to secure a 7-6 lead for Hancock.
The Bulldogs went on a 21-0 run in the second quarter to build a 28-6 lead. Henderson caught an 8-yard TD strike from Prober and a 3-yard toss to make it a 21-6 lead with 1:37 to play in the first half. On Canyons next possession, Tony Dawson sacked the Canyon quarterback and Dillon recovered the football and returned it 13 yards for another touchdown to give Hancock at 28-6 vicroy with 1:22 to go.
The Bulldogs carried a 28-9 lead into halftime. Canyons scored to open the second half to make it a 28-16 game. However, the Bulldogs added to their lead when Enriquez ran it in from 2 yards out to cap a twelve play, 76 yard drive.
Canyons scored twice in the fourth quarter to make a game of it at 34-29. The conference champions had a chance to take the lead with less than three minutes to play when they drove to the Hancock 34 yard line. Tony Dawson completed a pass to Vincent Strange for a 17-yard gain, but Demetri Johnson forced and recovered a fumble to seal the victory. The Bulldogs forced and recovered four fumbles in the victory.
Prober, a freshman quarterback and graduate of Righetti High School, completed 16 of his 35 passes for 212 yards. He threw for 3 touchdowns and was picked off twice.
Henderson capped his historic Hancock career with 11 catches for a career-best 173 yards and 3 touchdowns. He set the program single-season record with 74 receptions breaking the previous mark of 67. He finished his Bulldog career with 19 touchdowns, 134 receptions and 2,173 receiving yards. All three of those are Hancock records. He tied the program record in 2011 for most touchdowns receptions in a single season with 12.
Enriquez, a sophomore from Santa Maria High School, finished with 120 yards rushing on 21 carries. It marked the fourth time this season he reached the 100-yard mark on the ground. He finished the season with 751 rushing yards for an average of 94 yards per game.
Darryl Smith led the Bulldogs with 9 tackles. Dillon tallied 4 tackles, including two for lost yardage. He returned the fumble recovery for a touchdown and added a pass breakup. Jonathan General tallied 2 sacks and Logan Sprouse, an Atascadero High graduate, intercepted a pass on defense for the Bulldogs.
Hancock racked up 362 yards of total offense compared to 452 yards from Canyons.