Warriors can’t hang with playoff-contending Model
The Gordon Central Warriors were looking to get that first win of the season on Friday night when they hosted Model, but it just wasn’t to be as they were soundly defeated, 58-7, by a solid Model team.
The most outstanding player from the game was Model quarterback Kyler Eldridge. The dual-threat signal-caller went 7-of-13 for 88 yards, two touchdowns and an interception through the air while adding 101 yards and two additional scores on the ground.
His first touchdown was the first score of the game as the Blue Devils (6-2, 3-2 Region 7-AA) took the opening kickoff, marched down the field and scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Eldridge. Model scored three more times in the opening quarter. The first was a 24-yard touchdown pass from Eldridge to Stephen Finley, the second was another touchdown pass to Finley that was 22 yards and the third was a four-yard touchdown run by Jordan Worfford. Model ended the first quarter up 28-0.
The Blue Devils were not done scoring in the first half, as they put up 17 points in the second quarter. Model’s Matthew Syverson made a 29-yard field goal with 9:23 in the period, and then Eldridge kept the ball himself and exploded for a 47-yard touchdown minutes later. A minute and a half expired, and then Model scored again, this time via a six-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Evan Burger.
Gordon Central (0-8, 0-5) scored their lone touchdown of the night a few minutes later, when workhorse running back Branson Towe ran the ball 26 yards into the end zone for a Warrior touchdown to make the score 45-7 going into halftime.
The Warriors had some success on offense but turned the ball over four times. Model capitalized on the big plays made by their defense. Towe was the big bright spot for the Warriors as he churned his way for 96 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown.
Gordon Central coach David Humphreys said his team played against a really good football team on Friday and didn’t do enough to stay in the game.
“(We) had a couple of guys get wounded,” said Humphreys. “Model’s a good football team. I’m a little frustrated. I thought we moved the ball well in the first half, but we always found some way to shoot ourselves in the foot. We knew that it was going to be tough defensively, and that we had to try to slow the game down a little bit and get a stop here and there. But like I said, they are a good ball team. Their running back and quarterback makes them a tough group to handle, and you know you can’t make mistakes. I think a lot of the mistakes there at the end was just because we had a couple of guys tired.”
Gordon Central heads to Rockmart next week.