Coming off of a battle and defeat to arch rival East Webster to start the season, Brad Gray just wanted his team to flush the ball game and get better.
The week preparing for French Camp Academy was all about cleaning up the mistakes and executing at a high level to give the team the best chance to win. The result was a win as Eupora was able to get the 34-13 win.
“The execution is still a work in progress. We’re making more mistakes than I’m confident with,” Gray said. “Against East Webster, we didn’t block the perimeter at all so we challenged them last week, especially our receivers and backs, to do something without the football. I think we had a receiver that got his first start this week that blocked 90%. That’s a big deal to us. We’re still making some mistakes at the quarterback position but we’re working at that. I think the more reps we get, the better we’ll get.”
The quarterback position isn’t quite as healthy at the moment, either, and it sure isn’t experienced. Starter Eli Clark went down with a concussion against the Wolverines and was in the hospital for that Friday night. Clark didn’t play against the Panthers as Gray turned it over to BJ Cork and freshman Peyton Perkins.
In the absence of Clark and with rain coming down at Wofford Field, the Eagles relied heavily on the ground game and they had a ton of success. The team had 23 carries for 338 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 14.7 yards every touch.
Mark Pittman had five rushes for 118 of those yards and two touchdowns. Tre Johnson finished with three carries for 71 yards and a score, Cork had seven carries for 95 and Elijah Wofford had eight carries for 54 yards.
It took a few minutes to get going in the game and the Eagles actually trailed 7-0 early. Johnson gave the team a spark when he broke off a 67-yard touchdown run and special teams would come through. After Landry Winter’s strong punt got the ball pinned at the 3, a blocked punt from the Eagles inside the 5 led to Cork punching it in for a 1-yard score to get the 13-7 lead heading into the half.
It was Cork again out of the locker room as he had a 52-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21-7. After the ensuing kickoff return was brought back for a score by the Panthers to cut it to 21-13, the Eagles took over for good. A goal line stand from Eupora at the 1 yard line and then Pittman took off for a 68-yard touchdown.
Pittman was twice is nice on the next drive on the same play as he would go for 80 yards and make it the 34-13 final.
As explosive as the offense was, Gray was really proud of what his young defense did. Freshman Duke Gary led the team with 11 tackles while Elijah Wofford had 10 tackles.
“We started three freshmen on defense on Friday night at nose tackle, MIKE linebacker and cornerback. We had a goal line stop and my freshman linebacker Duke Gary made that stop,” Gray said. “Those guys played really well and we were really proud of that. The way that our defense has played has been excellent.”
That always-important first win out of the way, Eupora is now moving ahead. The team has a difficult challenge coming up this week at home against Class 1A Okolona and two more tough non-conference games to follow against Water Valley and Noxapater.
The Chieftains sit at 0-2 in the early going but their two losses came against Class 4A North Pontotoc and Class 3A Calhoun City in which Gray was impressed with their play.
“They have a big offensive and defensive front and they’re tremendously athletic. They’re guys that if you blink, they’ll get behind you,” Gray said of Okolona. “Calhoun City beat them 22-0, but I think they only scored one offensive touchdown. Their defense plays really hard and fly to the football. Offensively, they’ve been searching but they’re starting to figure it out a little bit. We’ve got to stay on our keys and hit.”
