A grueling season came to an end for Brad Gray’s Eupora team last Friday night and the coach couldn’t have been more proud of his team. Playing with a boatload of underclassmen this season and with size and numbers relatively low, Gray finished out the year with a 6-6 mark and a trip to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs. That journey came to an end on Friday night when 2A title contender Calhoun City came away with a 38-0 win. “Our goal was to do what we do and play hard and get after them in the first half to give us a chance,” Gray said. “They jumped out quick on us. We were outmanned and I think most people could easily tell their offensive and defensive line made the difference all night. We got in the redzone, in the first half and we didn’t make a play when we needed to make a play. You’ve got to give credit to Calhoun City too.” The loss ended the year for the Eagles, but it was a season that has Gray’s squad ahead of schedule. With a sophomore QB leading the way along with several sophomores and freshmen at key positions, Eupora fought the entire way through the schedule. The Eagles got a couple of district wins and were in position to win in the two losses to Union and Philadelphia showing just how close they were to doing even bigger things. “I was really proud of our guys overall. For some reason, we lost a lot in the offseason over the last two or three years, but we had a core group of juniors and seniors that went out and made sure that everybody held it together,” Gray said. “We were outmanned in every game that we played this year but our guys came to play every week and played extremely hard and that gave us a chance to win.” With the season complete, Gray now turns to the offseason to try and get his team back over the hump. Two years after winning the district championship with a veteran team and leading the squad to a North State championship, Gray believes this team has the makings of that down the road. QB Peyton Perkins is built for a monster junior campaign after getting his feet wet the last two years, freshman Jackson Knight had a breakout year this season at wide receiver and other young players are set for a step up. After a tough finish to the year, Gray saw something on Friday night that gives him hope for the road ahead. He likes the group he’s assembling and the foundation built in his fourth year. “I hate seeing my guys hurt, but just knowing that those guys had put a lot in it and had some skin in the game made it a really good year. It just reiterated how much these guys grew together and bonded as a team,” Gray said. “This group coming back, they can do whatever it is they want to do. I think you could see a lot of maturity, especially in that sophomore group. We ended up having 12 or 13 sophomores that led this group and two or three freshmen contributed a lot. We’re also looking forward to who will step up for us from the group that might have been second string
