FRISCO, Texas – Pleasant Grove’s offense and defense abused previously unbeaten Graham (14-1) Thursday night at Ford Stadium, 45-14. Pleasant Grove's Pleasant Grove’s head coach Josh Gibson and his 13-year-old son, Jackson, prior to Thursday’s semifinal win over Graham. The Hawks recorded all kinds of school records in qualifying for Pleasant Grove’s first state championship football game in Class 4A Division II against Wimberly or defending champion West Orange-Stark.

“We’re all about pressure, pressure, pressure, and we did a great job of that tonight,” Pleasant Grove coach Josh Gibson said. “The wing-T doesn’t work well unless you have eleven guys doing their job. Our guys and community bought into the wing-T. It’s an offense that produces if you’re unselfish. I’m proud of everyone of our kids that played. Our defense has been tremendous all season. My hat is off to our kids and coaching staff for shutting them down the way we did. “We played so fast and physical. It was unbelievable. I’ve been thanking God every week for one more week, and now there’s only one more week. Graham has a great high school football team, and a great coaching staff. That’s testament to how well we played tonight.”

Graham came into the semifinal contest averaging more than 50 points and 500 yards per game. The Hawks’ first-stringers built a 28-0 halftime cushion, while holding the Steers to 21 total yards in the first two quarters. Pleasant Grove’s offense was almost unstoppable in the first half, having two touchdowns nullified by penalties, and missing a short field goal.

Sophomore running back Bruce Garrett became the Hawks’ third 1,000-yard rusher of the season, scoring twice on runs of 15 and 85 yards. He finished with a game-high 167 yards on 16 carries.

Running back T.J. Cole became Pleasant Grove’s all-time rusher with 128 yards and two touchdowns. His six-pointers accounted for another record with 24 TDs on the season.

Sophomore quarterback Ben Harmon eclipsed his own record with his 26th touchdown pass.

Carson Cox was on the receiving end for a record 13th touchdown this season.

Another impressive point was the Hawks’ execution on offense, running the clock down on each play to the final second or two.

Graham salvaged a little pride with two touchdowns in the second half. Senior quarterback Tucker Horn was held to 31 yards in the first half. He threw for 235 yards and a touchdown in the final two quarters.

Next week’s championship game will be played at AT&T Stadium on Friday at 3 p.m.