A 4-1 record prior to Class 2A, Region 2 play was great for Eupora but Brad Gray challenged his team to be better after the previous two weeks.
The Eagles dropped a shootout against East Union and followed that up by shooting itself in the foot with turnovers but surviving in a 28-12 win over Potts Camp. As the Region 2 schedule turned last week, the Eagles emphatically got the job done.
Eupora went on the road to take on Bruce and had no problem dispatching the Trojans. The Eagles would come away with a 5-1 record and a 1-0 start in Region 2 play with a blowout 44-6 victory over Bruce.
“We told them that we didn’t have to play a perfect game and probably never will. But we had five turnovers against Potts Camp and we had a talk about that,” Gray said. “We made that a focus and we won the turnover battle 3-0. When you do that, you always have a chance to win. We tried to reiterate playing hard early on and trusting the game plan all week. Getting it to carry over is easier said than done.”
Sophomore Jay Stevenson was a big problem for the Trojans as he has been all year. After rushing 20 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns the week before, Stevenson had the best game of his career with 13 carries and career highs with 225 yards and five touchdowns.
It was the third time this season that Stevenson has rushed for over 100 yards and the fifth time he’s had two or more touchdowns.
“Jay is a product of doing some work last year. He split some time last year with Orlandes Gray and we felt like after a summer in the weight room that he could do more than what he did last year,” Gray said. “We thought if he doubled his numbers, that wouldn’t be a surprise to us and it’s a matter of whether he wanted to do it or not.”
Stevenson took over the game pretty quickly with back-to-back touchdowns to open play going for 59 and 80 yards respectively giving the team a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. Lyndell Boatman extended the lead in the second quarter with his 24-yard field goal and then Stevenson would take over again.
After Elijah Wofford intercepted a pass, Stevenson ended the half with a 16-yards score and it was a 24-0 lead going into the locker room.
Stevenson came back again in the third quarter as he scored from 10 yards away and then the defense would lead to offense yet again. Sean Conley recovered a fumble that would lead to a big 33-yard pass from Murphy to Tabb Powell that set up Stevenson’s 1 yard run to make it 38-0.
The night’s third turnover would lead to points yet again as Powell had an interception brought back inside the 10 yard line and Charles Potts finished it off with a 9-yard run to make it 44-0 with 11 minutes left. Bruce got a late touchdown but it was all over but the shouting as the Eagles won big.
It wasn’t too complicated for the Eagles – they ran the ball down the throats of the Trojans. Eupora had 33 carries for 313 yards as Murphy had 11 carries for 51 yards to go along with Stevenson’s big night. Murphy only threw the ball five times but completed three of them for 55 yards.
The Eagle defense lived in the Bruce backfield in the game with 12.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Sophomore Khryin Morris had himself a game with six tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks.
With back-to-back wins and the first district game under their belts, the Eagles now turn to a huge game on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Eupora will host a Calhoun City Wildcats team that is a head-scratching 0-6, but Gray sees a team with some of the same characteristics that has always made them the team to beat in the district.
Eupora is looking to snap an eight-game losing streak that dates back to 2013. The Eagles have lost three of those games by a touchdown or less and this year they’re looking to get over the hump.
“Calhoun City is Calhoun City. They’re well-coached and athletic. To beat Calhoun City you’ve got to not beat yourself and we’ve got to make sure we’re not committing stupid penalties or getting behind the chains,” Gray said. “They’re one of those teams that you feel like because of their tradition and athleticism they’re going to get going. Our goal is to make sure that they don’t get it going this week.”
