The Eagle football team showed marked improvement from their week one opener, as a lot of high school teams generally do, and even though it still wasn’t a win it provided the home fans with some excitement right to the finish.
The 26-24 loss to West Central Valley opened with a first quarter score by the visitors from Stuart, only to see the Eagles mount a second period drive culminating in an eight-yard touchdown strike from Jake Jeske to Nick Huntley. The conversion run for two more by Roberto Calles was good, as the Eagles took a two-point lead for the second straight week. The Wildcats scored again in that same quarter as the teams adjorned for halftime at 12-8 in favor of WCV.
Calles hit paydirt from four yards out at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter. The two point run, also by him, made it 16-12 Eagles. Again, the Wildcats came right back and scored on a 22-yard run. The two-point conversion was also good, making it 20-16 Wildcats. With 2:19 left in the game, the Eagles final score came on a four-yard keeper by Jeske, with Calles again tacking on two more for a 24-20 lead in this back and forth contest. Much to the dismay of the home crowd, a touchdown for the Wildcats at 11 ticks before the final horn gave them the win.
“I thought our team showed a lot of fight and did everything possible to win this game,” stated head coach Logan Willard. “Unfortunately, sometimes it comes down to who has the ball last. Our defense played well all night. I put them in a few tough spots field position-wise, by being aggressive on offense. Our seniors showed great leadership and stepped up to make a lot of big plays for us. Our young guys did a lot of growing up and learning on the fly. It’s hard to lose, but I think we can take a lot of positive things from this game moving forward.”
The Eagles compiled 13 first downs on 55 offensive plays for 148 total net yards. They led in time of possession 25:34 to the Wildcats 22:26. They were 4 of 14 on third downs and 1 of 4 on a fourth down conversion. They had three turnovers to the Wildcats four.
“Our moment will come,” said Willard. “For now it’s back to the weightroom, and practice field, to prepare for Pocahontas Area. We have to move on, but we keep that feeling and use it for motivation as we move forward in our schedule. I also want to thank our fans for their support. It was nice to have them locked in the entire game with us.”
