A massive defensive effort on Friday helped Hennessey introduce itself to the district title race.

The Eagles scored on that side of the ball and got two big stops inside the 5 as they knocked off visiting Millwood 15-7.

That was the Eagles’ third straight win as they moved to 3-2. More importantly, they’re 2-0 in District 2A-II-1.

“It was a huge win,” said head coach Mark Cox. “Our guys played their tails off.”

The offense was solid, but the defense was huge.

It started in the first quarter when Brytan Gardner picked off a pass deep in Millwood territory and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.

Later in the quarter, the Eagles capped a scoring drive with a Levi Ferrell 3-yard run and pushed their lead to 15-0.

One of Millwood’s few big plays came in the second quarter when London Lewis connected with Carter Ray for a 43-yard score.

But that was it. Hennessey’s defense took care of the rest.

That included when the Falcons threatened to score later in the game.

One drive inside the 5 ended with an Alex Gonzalez interception in the end zone.

Another saw Raiden Briley pick up a sack on 4th-and-goal.

“It was a group effort for sure,” Cox said. “Millwood has some really talented playmakers, but our guys did a great job of keeping them contained most of the night.”

Mario Lopez and Briley led the team with six stops apiece while Beau Vinson had five.

As a team, the Eagles had 11 tackles for a loss.

Millwood out-gained Hennessey 260-221, but Hennessey won the turnover battle and the Falcons also hurt themselves with 11 penalties.

Ferrell threw for 92 yards and the Eagles rushed for 129 as a team.

Hennessey took eight more offensive snaps than Millwood.

“Our offense didn’t score many points, but we were able to sustain some drives and keep the ball away from Millwood‘s playmakers for a while,” Cox said.

Ferrell ran it 24 times for 90 yards.

Lopez added 28 yards on his nine attempts.

Hennessey has a solid opportunity to keep atop the district standings the next two weeks as they visit Alva and host Meeker.

Those teams are currently a combined 1-9 on the season.

Those matchups will lead into a visit to Cashion and a home date with CCS, both of which are also 2-0 in the district.

Hennessey 15 Millwood 7

Score by quarter: Millwood 0700-7 Hennessey 15 0 0 0 - 15 Scoring summary: H - Brytan Gardner 15 INT return (Levi Ferrell kick) H - Ferrell 3 run (Gardner run) M - Carter Ray 43 pass from London Lewis (Carlton Evans kick) 

Game stats Millwood Hennessey 

13 Firstdowns 15 25-114 Rushing a-yds 40-129 156 Passingyds 92 12-23-2 Passingc-a-i 9-17-1 0-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-26.0 Punts-avg. 4-31.5 11-89 Penalties-yds 4-35