The Hendrickson Hawks shot early and often and found the back of the net four times to knock off New Braunfels Canyon 4-2 in their 4A area round playoff game at Hawk Field on Tuesday.

As he has done all season long, Hendrickson’s Michael Hicks was the engine that propelled the offense, scoring two goals and assisting on a third. With the win the Hawks move on to face Dripping Springs on Friday.

“This is the eighth time we’ve played them in the last three years,” Hendrickson coach Bill Anderson said. “We knew we could go at them.”

The Cougars controlled the field for the opening 13 minutes before a yellow card got them in trouble. The card, issued in the 27th minute, set up Hicks for a penalty kick that he fired low past the Canyon goalie and into the back of the net to put Hendrickson up 1-0. The card was the first of seven given to the Cougars, three of them resulting in ejections.

Canyon came back and scored the first of their two first half goals just four minutes later. Hendrickson answered six minutes after the second yellow card of the game given to the Cougars. The Hawks were given a free kick from the 35-yard line and Hicks picked up a rebound off a shot by Chase Tabor and beat the Canyon keeper for his second goal of the game.

The Cougars were quick to answer again. Two minutes after the Hendrickson score, Canyon got a goal off a throw-in that glanced off Hawk goalie Casey Tilly and into the net.

“We weren’t mentally tough on their set plays,” Anderson said of the goals his team allowed.

The game seemed headed into halftime in a tie, but with 16 seconds remaining in the first half, Hicks cut his way through the Cougar defense and fed Gabe Williams for what would be the game-winning score.

The Hawks added their final goal in the 37th minute of the second half when Julio Espinosa took a free kick from the 20-yard line and bent it around the Cougar defense and into the net.

Hendrickson now must deal with the top team in central Texas, the Dripping Springs Tigers. While Anderson knows his team has its work cut out for them, he believes they will be up to the challenge.

“I feel good about the team,” he said. “Earlier in the year I didn’t know how good we’d be. They have continually progressed and I don’t think we’ve peaked. I feel good about our chances. I’ll put these boys up against anybody right now.”

The Hawks opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over Travis. Hicks and Williams scored for Hendrickson.