The Hawkins Hawks travel to Kaufman Thursday night to take on the Tom Bean Tomcats in bi-district action.

The Tomcats finished the season with a 7-3 record, going 5-1 in district action to finish second. The Hawks also finished the season at 7-3 with a district record of 4-2, which landed them in third place behind two stateranked teams, Carlisle and Frankston. Carlisle defeated Frankston earlier to take first place. It was Frankston’s only loss.

The Hawks are coming off a 55-20 loss at Frankston after winning three consecutive district games against Como-Pickton 35-12, Alba-Golden 73-40 and Kerens 52-20. At Frankston, the hometown Indians built a 36-14 lead by halftime and added 19 points in the second half.

Hawks quarterback Eli Smith had a touchdown pass to Riggin Smith, and Springer Crouch added a touchdown run. Frankston quarterback Dallas Dezern connected with receiver Braydon Gray for two scores.

“Frankston is a solid football team. They went uptempo with their offense and it rattled our defense. On offense we had opportunities but we did not take advantage of them during the game,” Cowley said.

The Hawks were undefeated at home this season, going 5-0, and were 2-3 on the road. All three Hawkins losses came to stateranked teams Overton, Carlisle and Frankston. Their wins came against Elysian Fields 33-13, Big Sandy 69-33 and Winona 56-6 in nondistrict games, and in district action over Cayuga 21-13, Como-Pickton 35-12, Alba-Golden 73-40 and Kerens 52-20.

Led by senior quarterback Eli Smith, the prolific Hawks offense averaged 41.1 points per game on the season. Smith’s season included a game with seven touchdown passes as the Hawks rolled up a 73-40 win at Alba-Golden. Tom Bean likes to throw the football all over the field.

“Tom Bean does a lot with their passing game. They have a lot of different concepts in their passing game. They have a talented quarterback who can really sling the ball around and he has the receivers who can make some big plays,” Hawkins head coach Bill Cowley said.

The Tomcats’ quarterback is junior Henry Cheek, who has accounted for 24 touchdowns on the season. Wide receiver Tatum Hanson has scored 13 touchdowns, while teammate Paxton Parrish has nine touchdowns on the season. Cowley said the Tomcats have a solid defense.

“We need to take advantage of any opportunities they might give us. They throw the ball about 80% of the time on offense,” Cowley said. “With the game being played on Thursday night, we had to get started on our preparations for the game right away. Our kids are really excited and they have been working hard. We have to be careful not to give the kids information overload.”

The Tom Bean defense is led by linebackers Noah Gray (8.7 tackles per game), AJ Carney and Tony Secreto, who both average seven tackles per game. Kaufman’s Norville Field is located south of U.S. Highway 175. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.