On Friday night, theHendrickson Hawks came up short in their final district game, as they lost an exciting 34-27 battle against the Killeen Kangaroos. The Kangaroos, many who are military dependents, were playing with heavy hearts following the massacre that happened at Fort Hood on Thursday; however, this did not interfere with the performance of the speedy Kangaroo offense. The Kangaroos, who are led by dynamic junior quarterback Michael Cummings, had three touchdowns longer than 40 yards, while Cummings accounted for 377 yards of offense and 4 touchdowns (two running and two passing). The Kangaroo victory overshadowed another outstanding performance by Hawks star running back Kenny Williams, who ran for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Despite the loss Hendrickson (5-4) qualified for the playoffs. The Hawks will face Austin Travis on Friday at Vandergriff Stadium. After only four offensive plays from scrimmage by the Kangaroos, the Hawks found themselves trailing 14-0. On the third play of the game, Jaquail Haskins broke free for 42-yard touchdown run. Following a Hawk punt, Cummings completed a short pass to Haskins, who took it the rest of the way for a 54-yard touchdown. Following the Kangaroos touchdown, the Hawks started their drive from the 6-yard line. Behind the running of Williams, they steadily moved the ball down the field and scored their first touchdown of the night when Damarion Jackson scored on a 2-yard touchdown to cut the Kangaroos lead to 14-7. Williams was unstoppable on the drive, accounting for 81 of the 94 yards. Following a Kangaroo punt, the Hawks quickly scored through the air, as Jackson found Will Ward for a 52-yard touchdown pass. Williams added the two-point conversion giving the Hawks their only lead of the night at 15-14. To end the first quarter, Cummings found Rodney Brown on a 79-yard pass play which put the ball on the Hawks 3-yard line. At the start of the second quarter, Cummings connected with Anthony Jenkins for a 3-yard touchdown pass to give the Kangaroos the lead again at 21-15. The Kangaroos would strike again before halftime, as Cummings broke several arm tackles for a 41-yard touchdown to increase the Kangaroo lead to 28-15. In the third quarter, Cummings would break free for a 16-yard touchdown run to make the score 34-15. The Hawks blocked the extra point attempt. In the fourth quarter, the Hawks were able to close the Kangaroos lead when Williams raced 36-yards for a touchdown to make the score 34-21. The following two-point conversion attempt failed. On their next possession the Kangaroos drove the ball down to the Hawks 33-yard line. The Kangaroos attempted a 50-yard field goal, which was blocked by the Hawks and bounced back to the Kangaroos 28-yard line. Behind the running of Williams, the Hawks moved the ball down to the 1-yard line where Williams took it to pay dirt to make the score 34-27. The Hawks tried an on-side kick but were unable to recover it, allowing the Kangaroos to run out the clock. Hendrickson will square off with Austin Travis tomorrow night in a bi-district playoff matchup. The Rebels finished the year 6-4 and were the third place team from District 26-4A. They will present the Hawks with a fairly balanced offensive attack which has gained 1440 yards on the ground and 1229 yards through the air this season. Hawk coach Chip Killian says the key to stopping the Rebels will be for his team to stop making mistakes. “We have to start tackling better and executing our schemes,” he said. “We are not giving up long drives, we are giving up big plays and that comes from poor tackling and busted assignments.” Killian said it was this sloppy play that cost his team both against Killeen and in their loss one week earlier to Marble Falls. He said it must change if Hendrickson is to get to the second round of the playoffs. “We feel we have beaten ourselves the past two weeks,” he added. “Twenty penalties and 200 yards of penalty yardage is hard to overcome. We must execute our game plan and quit shooting ourselves in the foot.” Hendrickson’s bi-district playoff game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Monroe Stadium at Vandergrift High School in Austin. Sports Editor Chris Grant contributed to this story.