Eagles Put Up a Great Second Half, But Fall to Woodward Academy
The Southeast Webster-Grand football team opened up the 2011 season last Friday in Woodward. The Eagles faced Woodward Academy in a non -district showdown.
The first half started with the Eagles receiving the ball. The first play from scrimmage yielded a 12- yard gain and an Eagle first down, but they were unable to sustain the drive and were forced to punt the ball to the Knights. The Eagles over-snapped their punt and gave the Knights the ball inside the ten-yard line. The Knights capitalized on the turnover and quickly went up 7-0. The Eagles then settled down and put together a nice drive, only to be stopped when a 40- yard pass reception was called back for an illegal formation. The Knights once again took advantage of the Eagle mistake and scored again. The first quarter ended with the Eagles trailing 0-14.
The second quarter was a defensive battle with neither team able to find the end zone quickly. The Knights found the end zone on a short pass over the middle to go up 21-0. Trailing by 21 points senior Joe Lennon put together a nice drive, only to be ended when the Knights intercepted the ball on the two-yard line. The Eagles defense came onto the filed once again and held the Knights. The Eagles held the Knights and forced a punt late in the second quarter. With only seconds left in the half the Eagles drove down the field with a combination of Tyler McKimmey, Tyson Comstock, and Austin Glaspey rushing plays and a nice pass over the middle to DJ Stowers to put the Eagles in Field Goal range. With three seconds left on the clock the Eagles offense tried to get on the board once again. Junior Nolan Mitchell stepped of his steps and nodded to Freshman Jay Lizer. The snap was clean, the hold was good, Mitchell had plenty of leg, but the ball HIT the LEFT upright of the goal post and bounced to the turf. The Eagles went into half time trailing 0-21.
The second half opened up with the Eagles kicking off to the Knights. The 12 minute third quarter was a defensive battle. The defensive lineman did an outstanding job penetrating their gaps and allowing the Linebackers to read their blitzing lanes. This allowed the Eagles to force the Knights to punt the ball. The third quarter ended with no score. Apparently the officials called for the clock to stop with seven seconds left in the quarter, but the clock continued to run. So, they added seven more seconds onto the clock and gave the Knights one more play, which should have ended the quarter. Once again the clock was not stopped and 3 seconds was added to the quarter. This time the Knights were able to find the end zone and the quarter officially ended with the Eagles trailing the Knights 0-27.
The Eagles never hung their heads and held the Knights scoreless in the fourth quarter. Austin Glaspey kept the Eagles alive with a crucial fumble recovery. The Eagle offense went to work once again. Senior Joe Lennon hooked up with Nolan Mitchell and DJ Stowers for some more passing yards. Freshman Jay Lizer came into the game on fourth down and ran the ball on a sweep play to gain a first down and keep the drive alive. With seconds left in the game the Eagles marched down to the Knight’s 20- yard line. The Eagles never lost hope and fought until the final seconds. On the last play of the game Sophmore Tyler McKimmey was stopped on the six- yard line the game ended.
The first game of the 2011 season is now over, but our players and fans have nothing to be ashamed of. When compared to last season’s 0-62 blow-out our 2011 Eagles played a good game. Change the bad snap, interception on the two-yard line, the field goal that hit the upright, adding 10 seconds to the clock, and a few penalties; the outcome would have been completely different. When compared to previous games it is very evident that this year’s Eagle football team only needs to change a few minor mistakes. Hopefully, this week’s practice will prepare them for week two and Prairie Valley. Prairie Valley is coming off a game one loss to the Woodward Granger Hawks. Tonight's game begins at 7:00 pm in Burnside.
