Following the team’s first loss of the season, Brad Gray was worried how his Eupora team would react to disappointment.
On top of that, the Eagles were playing host to an undefeated Potts Camp team and it was Homecoming. A let down defeat was very much in play and the Eagles didn’t play their best game, but they won the ball game 28-12.
Gray won’t complain about the final result, but he hopes that his team is learning from its mistakes with Class 2A, Region 2 play on the way.
“I think you could definitely tell last week that we had lost a game. They’re young and a lot of guys that we’re counting on have never been counted on. They were wide-eyed coming back to practice last week not knowing what to expect,” Gray said of his team. “We talked all offseason about how important the non-conference schedule was, and I think they understand that a lot better now.”
The Eagles (4-1) were heavy run in this game again and had another huge performance from sophomore Jay Stevenson. The running back rumbled for 9.8 yards a carry as he carried it 20 times for 196 yards and three scores. It was the second game of 100 or more yards this season for Stevenson who is up to 11 touchdowns and 635 yards rushing in just five games. He’s averaging 8.1 yards a rush and has two or more touchdowns in all but one game.
Quarterback Ty Murphy saw his workload increase on the ground as he’s worked back from a hamstring injury and carried it 15 times for 107 yards. He only threw 10 times with four completions, 75 yards and an interception. Tabb Powell was his favorite receiver yet again, hauling in three of the four passes for 57 yards.
While the Eagles racked up 340 yards rushing on 44 carries, the story of the game was the offense failing to take care of the football. Eupora fumbled the ball four times and lost all of those and added an interception for five turnovers.
“We just kept giving opportunity after opportunity. I wasn’t pleased with how the game went, but I was pleased with the result. To see them gut it out and do what it takes even though it was ugly, was good,” Gray said. “We had five turnovers so to get through that and get the win was a big deal. We’re giving yards and giving opportunities and our guys have to realize that the small things determine how the game goes.”
It was a pretty close game throughout the first half as the Eagles started off with a 6-0 lead following Jay Stevenson’s 3-yard run. After Potts Camp answered in the second quarter to tie the game, Stevenson got another score from 2 yards away and it was 13-6 with 3:04 left in the half.
The Eagles couldn’t hold the visitors out of the end zone before the half, however, as they got another score and closed the lead to 13-12 going to the locker room. While the offense struggled to hold on to the ball in the third quarter, they got a field goal from Lyndell Boatman to extend the lead and Stevenson essentially put the game away with a 90-yard burst that made it 22-12 with under 4 minutes remaining.
Jessie Sudduth added one more score for good measure in the final seconds with a 13-yard run and that gave the Eagles the win. The defense pitched a shutout in the second half and had a nice night from JD Stephenson as he led the way with 11 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack. Kyle Kilgore racked up 3.0 sacks to go along with his eight tackles and forced fumble in the game and Khyrin Morris added another 2.0 TFL as the team accumulated 9.0 stops behind the line for scrimmage and 5.0 sacks.
Elijah Wofford got an interception in the game.
Now, non-conference play is over and the games become much more important for the Eagles and their quest to win a Region 2 title. The team starts by traveling to Bruce this week to take on an 0-5 Trojans team that Gray said is much better than their record. With this past week behind the team, Gray is expecting a team that’s laser focused on the goals ahead.
“I’m going to be surprised if we’re not ready this week,” Gray said. “Bruce is very athletic and have a good coaching staff so they’re going to have a really good game plan. Last year, Bruce had struggled early on and then they gave us fits at our place. I think that’s going to be the same this year. They started out with Covid issues, but they know that they have a really good chance of being in the playoffs starting Friday night. They’ll be ready for us.”
