Blue Devils blank Phoenix
CALHOUN — While it may not have began smoothly, Model’s first game of the season turned out to be a solid win for the Blue Devils.
Dual-threat quarterback Kyler Eldridge went 8-of-14 for 150 yards passing and had 47 yards rushing as he was responsible for all three of Model’s touchdowns Friday night in a 22-0 win over Sonoraville on the road.
The game was cut short seconds into the fourth quarter after several lightening strikes and delays led to the game eventually being called.
The shifty and athletic Eldridge did not start out well though. On the opening series, Model was driving deep into Sonoraville territory. Eldridge saw a receiver open downfield and tried to lob it to his man, but Sonoraville’s Bailey Reece intercepted the pass.
Then Sonoraville made a mistake of their own when quarterback Patrick Moore fumbled the ball in his own half of the
field. Model promptly scored seconds later thanks to Eldridge’s first touchdown of the night as he ran it in the end zone from 11 yards out.
Both defenses held the other’s offense stagnant until late in the second quarter when Eldridge scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. The score remained that way at the end of half as Model took a 14-0 lead heading into
the break. Sonoraville received the second half kickoff first and Tristan Key returned the kick 68 yards. The momentum seemed to be shifting back toward Sonoraville, but they were stalled and were forced to kick a 45yard field goal, which Phoenix kicker Kevin Villatoro narrowly missed.
Both defenses played well, but Model eventually broke through again as Eldridge scored on a 2-yard scamper with seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Blue Devils went for the two-point conversion and were successful.
Model head coach Gordon Powers was thrilled with his team’s performance,
“Yeah, I mean it’s a really good win because Sonoraville has got a great team and great coaches. It’s a 3A team. It’s us stepping up, so I was real pleased with that. We knew Kyler (Eldridge) and Chris (Dublin) could do some things, but I was really pleased with our defense. Our defense came to play. That meant a whole lot to us because our defense was a big question mark this year.”
The Model defense was a constant thorn in the Phoenix’s side all night as they were constantly in the backfield and harassed Moore all game long.
Sonoraville will face Cass on the road next Friday, and Model will play host to Adairsville.