Eagles take ‘big win’ over Rattlers on road
MAGAZINE — Cutter Morning Star walked away with what head coach T.C. Shamel called a “big win” Friday night as the Eagles narrowly defeated the Magazine Rattlers at Shorty Wright Field.
“They’re a good football team,” Shamel said. “I’m not going to lie. They beat Bigelow pretty handily at home and, of course, Mount Ida is struggling. They went to Mount Ida and beat them really well. I think they were picked second or third in their conference, and that’s coming off of a playoff loss in the second round last year to Foreman by 12. We all know how good Foreman’s been lately.
“It was a big win for the Eagles last night. We needed the confidence, especially going in, you know, to a solid Mountain Pine squad, who’s licking their wounds right now at 0-3, and they’re not an 0-3 football team. We’re gonna have to be ready, and plus, the eagles are road warriors right now. It’ll be our third straight road game, so we need to try and get that.”
The Eagles (2-1) got on the scoreboard first as quarterback Sam Moore found Keshawn Blevins for a six-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter, but Magazine (2-1) responded about two minutes later to even the score.
“His first touchdown pass, we’re driving, go all the way down the field, and come down to a fourth and five,” Shamel said. “And then he makes the play, keeps it alive. He finds Keyshawn in the corner of the end zone for our first score.”
Moore threw for three more touchdowns — two for 42 yards each and one for 43 — and caught a pass from junior Landon Watson on a reverse pass for a 43-yard touchdown. Moore was 10-for-15 passing for 197 yards and four touchdowns with one interception and a fumble, and he had 13 carries for 35 yards and one catch for 43 yards with a touchdown.
Blevins had 22 carries for 96 yards and two catches for 13 yards and a score. Senior Matthew Cook had three receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns, and Watson had one 43-yard touchdown reception and a 43-yard touchdown pass.
While all four of the team’s touchdowns came through the air, Shamel was pleased with his team’s ability to move the ball.
“We ran the ball well,” he said. “I was really proud of our offensive line. I thought they really stepped up.”
After a 12-12 tie at the break, Magazine scored two touchdowns to take a 26-12 lead before the Eagles scored in the final minutes of the third frame and another early in the final quarter to knot the score. Magazine scored again about a minute later for a 32-26 lead, but about halfway through the final period, CMS scored again to take the 33-32 edge.
The Eagles will travel to Mountain Pine Friday to face the Red Devils at 7 p.m. at Stanley May Field.
Hughes, Cobras rout Dover
DOVER — Junior wide receiver Seth Hughes led Fountain Lake’s offense with
116 yards as the Cobras took home a
56-0 win at Jack Berry Field against the Dover Pirates Friday night.
“We opened up with a nice, long drive,” first year Fountain Lake head coach Kenny Shelton said. “I think our first drive was about eight or nine minutes, and we were able to punch it in, and that just kind of got it going. Our defense forced a fumble on their first possession. And then we were able to have the short end of the field and able to get another quick score, and that just kind of swung the momentum our way for the rest of the game.”
The Cobras (1-2) had a rough few weeks after losses against Hot Springs and Lakeside, but picked up the pace and dominated the Pirates (0-3) as sophomore Caleb Lacy rejoined the ranks after some health issues held him back over the summer.
“It really was big to have him back; this was his first game back,” Shelton said. “We wanted to play him just on the offensive side of the ball to begin with. He’s still trying to get into a little bit better shape. He’s not been able to do a whole lot for the last month, month and a half. He played a really good game for us — ran the ball extremely well and kind of helped spark the offense.”
Fountain Lake got on the scoreboard in the first quarter with 4:56 left as junior quarterback Jack Wurz connected with running back Asa Westerman on a 13-yard passing touchdown with Steven DeArmon running the ball in for the conversion. Westerman scored again minutes later as Wurz made a 15-yard pass, and DeArmon put it in on the conversion attempt to make it 16-0.
The Cobras spent time during practice last week focusing on revamping their offense in preparation for the game and the 2019 conference season.
“Changing from the double wing to the Wing T — some similarities but there’s a lot of differences as well,” Shelton mentioned. “So we really worked on that and hopefully over the next few weeks fully install it. Right now, we have some very base plays. The kids picked it up very well. A lot of these kids ran it through pee-wee and junior high for a number of years when coach [Tommy] Gilleran was still here, so just kind of dusting the cobwebs off.”
Lacy ran for a 54-yard rushing touchdown in the second frame with junior running back Owen Barthel making the 2-point play. Lacy edged in another 5-yard rushing touchdown before Hughes finished out the the rest of the game with three rushing touchdowns of 3, 41 and 54 yards with Barthel and sophomore linebacker Gavin Nguyen having successful conversions.
Wurz was 3-for-5 passing for 28 yards. Hughes had eight carries for 116 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Lacy added 10 touches for 100 yards with two rushing touchdowns, Barthel with 11 rushes for 64 yards, and DeArmon with seven runs for 33 yards. Westerman had two receptions for 28 yards and two receiving touchdowns, and DeArmon had one reception.
Westerman led the defense with 10 solo tackles, Nguyen had 9 stops and DeArmon had five.
Fountain Lake will host Joe T. Robinson at Allen Tillery Field this Friday at 7 p.m for their conference opener.