Blackhawks Fight Off 113 Degree Weather and Lancaster Mustangs en route to 44-6 Victory
LANCASTER, Calif. (July 16, 2023) -- On one of the hottest days in Los Angeles County history, the Inglewood Blackhawks fought through the excessive heat as well as the Lancaster Mustangs on their way to a 44-6 victory Saturday evening at Antelope Valley College. Inglewood got off to a dismal start drawing blanks on their first two possessions, primarily due to the discomfort of the heat as two players had to be taken out of the game due to heat exhaustion. Again, this is the first two possessions. After adjusting and putting all pieces to the puzzle together, the Blackhawks were able to establish some traction. Inglewood got on the board with a 25 yard touchdown reception from Vincent Strange Jr. to go up 6-0. That was followed by a punt block by LB Derrick Nubia (10 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 Punt Block) which was scooped up by DE Quran Bouldin who raced 21 yards for a touchdown. Both LB Devin Jones (8 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 FF, and 1 PD) and DE Clinton Greenaway (7 tackles, 4 TFL, and 1 FF) were electric on the defensive side of the ball with some jaw dropping hits that how the crowd in amazement. But the show was put on by DB Darius Barlowe who had another 2 interception game to go along with 177 all-purpose yards, 1 touchdown rushing and one touchdown receiving. And for the second week in a row, Barlowe was voted as the Gumbo Boys Player of the Week. "Darius is an absolute game breaker", stated Blackhawk head coach Tony Reid. Had the officials not called back one of his interceptions, he would have had three on the day. He's a treat to watch from a fans point of view. DB Darod McKnight had an interception as well to give the Blackhawks a total of three on the day.
Offensively the Blackhawks had 7 different receivers with receptions on the day as they all collaborated to to keep Lancaster at bey for the day. WR Terrell Bowie II led the group with 6 receptions for 84 yards and 1 touchdown while Vincent Strange and Darius Barlowe had the 2 other receiving touchdowns on the day. Rookie RB Shawn Prejean stepped in in place of RB James Toland IV who was out resting an injury, and had a magnificent break out game as he rushed for 136 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. "I loved seeing Shawn step into action and do what he did tonight" stated offensive coordinator Paul Mc Calope.
The Blackhawks (7-0)
will have a bye next week and will jump back into action on August 5th where they will host the So. Cal Coyotes in their regular season home finale. Kickoff is set for 6PM at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
