When East Webster and Eupora get together in any sport, it’s bound to be entertaining.
Most of the games are highly competitive and many come down to the wire no matter the sport. Last Friday night was not one of those.
The Wolverines came out and dominated on both sides of the ball from start to finish. It didn’t take long for EWHS to taste victory in a 42-14 blowout that has the Wolverines sitting in good shape heading into the final week of the regular season.
Like most games, one sidelines left in jubilation while the other left with the feeling of disgust. Eupora’s Brad Gray was especially frustrated with how the game came out after the Eagles played so well against Choctaw County the week before.
“We didn’t block and tackle,” Gray bluntly stated. “If you don’t do those things and the other team does, it’s going to be hard to win. The more I looked at it all weekend, that’s what it looked like to me. We had some plays on offense that we didn’t completely execute but we knew their defense was going to be really good and the offense was getting better. They were the grittiest team that we’ve played all year.”
The Eagles managed just 20 yards through the air and had 196 on the ground led by Jay Stevenson’s 10 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown. Ty Murphy had 12 carries for 83 yards and a score as they ran for 8.5 yards a carry.
But the Wolverines controlled the ball game. EWHS ran 55 times for 314 yards as four different players rushed for 50 yards or more. Kaleb Warnock had 14 carries for 60 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground as the quarterback was nearly perfect passing as well with 6-for-8, 141 yards and a touchdown.
Zy Ford led the way with 13 carries, 120 yards and a touchdown and Briceton Johnson had nine for 57 with four catches for 67 yards and a score. Jontavis Cunningham caught two passes for 74 yards.
The Wolverines got started in the first quarter of the game when they drove the ball down the field and Luke McKee would score from 1 yard out for the 6-0 lead. The game started heating up for them in the second as Warnock scored on a 7-yard run and then a 2-point conversion from Ford made it 14-0.
“Eupora vs. East Webster is a big deal to our community and our kids. In the five years that I’ve been here, that week of preparation has seen our kids go to a whole new level of focus and prep. If I could ever get them to treat every game like they do the Eupora game, we’d be on to something,” EWHS coach Ron Price said.
“Once we kicked it off, our guys stepped it up. We got a quick three and out and then went down there and scored. That set the tone for the whole game.”
After Warnock scored on the ground again from 2 yards away, Briceton Johnson would haul in a 30-yard touchdown as the clock ran out of the half and it was a commanding 28-0 lead for EWHS. At the start of the second half, the Wolverines drove down the field again and Ford would score on a 15-yard run to make it 35-0.
Murphy would finally get the Eagles on the board when he scored from 12 yards out with 6:22 left in the third quarter, but the Wolverines would have the answer as the offense drove the ball down to the 1 yard line and Warnock finished off his fourth touchdown of the day. Stevenson got an 83-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the game, but the outcome was decided by then.
Kainan Reed led the Wolverines with nine tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss. Britain Burleson had eight tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack. Carter Flora finished with an interception and Kendell Carden a fumble recovery.
For Eupora, they were led on defense by Jarvis Mccomb with 13 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss. Murphy had 13 tackles of his own and Kyle Kilgore finished with nine tackles, 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks. The whole Eagles team is going back to work this week as they finish things out in a non-conference game against J.Z. George on Thursday and will be the No. 4 seed in Region 2 after falling to 5-4 and 1-3 in the district.
“We’ve got to line up and hit the guy in front of us and that’s what we talked about on Sunday. It’s not completely broken, it’s just details here and there. The guys on the bottom of the district aren’t highly detailed and that’s on us as coaches. Our goals are still ahead of us and we want to get a win this week.”
The Wolverines (6-3, 2-1 Region 2) have a final district game at home against Bruce this Thursday night. A win guarantees a home playoff game next week but there’s still a shot at winning the district if Calhoun City can pull off the win at Choctaw County by at least three points.
Price isn’t worried about that game in Ackerman. The coach is telling his players all week to worry only about the game in front of them and everything else will take care of itself if they just keep winning.
“What we’re preaching is just controlling what we can control and doing what we need to do to be successful. We’re doing what we can to make sure that we keep our focus,” Price said. “We’ve lost back-to-back home games for the first time in a long time. We just need to go out and take care of ourselves and prep as if it was the state championship game.”
