Once again on Friday night, Eupora found itself against the ropes against a talented team in Philadelphia. The Eagles were down by two scores in the game and many gave up on their efforts, but the team of players and coaches did not. Eupora came back from that two-score deficit in the second half and had a chance to win the ball game in the final minutes before coming up just short in a 27-20 affair. The loss was the second in Class 2A, Region 4 play for the Eagles. Both losses came to the top two teams in the division in Philly and Union with each game being by seven points. ìWeíre right there. Weíre a play or two away from winning that game and setting ourselves up to have a really good run in the division,î head coach Brad Gray said. ìWe see the maturity of the kids weíre playing and we feel good that if these guys stick it out we can get them to the point where theyíre making those plays and coming out on top.î Gray believed his squad was a bit shellshocked by the bigger, faster, stronger and older Tornado players. Philly (3-6, 3-0 Region 4) struggled in the nonconference portion of the schedule but has looked the part in conference games this year. The Tornadoes came out in the game and built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 21-6 by halftime. In the second half, however, Gray saw his teamís demeanor change and they began to climb back in it, ultimately closing the lead to 21- 20 after three frames. With Philadelphia leading 27-20 in the final minutes, Eupora had the ball and drove it deep into Philly territory but ran out of time in the game as they would fall by a score. ìSame story all year. It was the tale of two halves for us,î Gray said. ìThe first half we were a little timid and you could tell the difference between the athleticism but also the age and maturity. We dug ourselves a big hole, but we challenged them in the second half to go out and play hard and allow things to come to them. Second half, I thought our effort, focus and execution was a lot better.î Eupora (5-4, 2-2 Region 4) now has a chance to see how far theyíve grown as a team as they challenge rival Choctaw County in the Battle for Highway 9 on Friday night. The Eagles will host the stateís top Class 3A team at Eupora in a game that bookends the regular season with two matchups against tough 3A foes. The Eagles lost the first game of the year to East Webster 35-6 but the team has grown from that moment. Friday is a chance to springboard the Eagles into the playoffs with some confidence. ìWeíve thrown our kids in the fire and have grown up a lot,î Gray said. ìChoctaw is the best team that weíve played since week one. This week weíre facing a team thatís very well put together. They have 29 juniors and seniors so theyíre going to run some older kids out there. Their coaching staff do a tremendous job and theyíre going to have a good plan. ìThis is one of the better Choctaw teams that Iíve seen playing them the last 10 years or so. Their level one and two players are big, fast and strong and their level three players are fast and give you different looks. You can spend your time trying to stop Caleb Cunningham on offense but they have really good players around him. Weíre going to have to work really hard in the trenches.î The game will have no bearing on the Eaglesí playoff setup, but games around the district will. The Eagles need a Union win against Philadelphia to lock up the No. 3 seed in the division. A loss from the Yellow Jackets could mean that the Eagles will finish fourth.
