Following a rough week one outcome for the Eupora Eagles, the team had to regroup and go back to the drawing board.
Head coach Brad Gray challenged his seniors to be the players to set the tone during the week. A bit of a rivalry clash was on the way with French Camp Academy, and the coach knew that the Panthers were going to be ready to play.
On Friday night on the road at FCA, Gray liked what he saw. The Eagles took an early lead and blew it open late in a 42-12 win. It was a chance for the team to get back on track and in the win column early in the year.
“It was good to get a win on the road and that taste out of our mouth,” Gray said after the win. “I thought French Camp played hard, and we knew that they would. We had some things that happened that were really good, but we’ve got some things to work on. We didn’t turn the ball over which I thought was good.
“I thought from week one to week two we did clean some things up. We didn’t miss as many tackles, but we’ve got to be more consistent.”
It was a strong night offensively for the Eagles. They came out and were efficient in the run game and passing as they put up 320 yards of total offense on 37 plays with 214 of those coming on the ground. Ty Murphy was strong again as he rushed for 92 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown and was 75% on his passes completing 6-of-8 for 106 yards and another score.
Mark Pittman led the team with four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Tabb Powell had two punt returns for 74 yards including a touchdown and also caught a pass for 34 yards. Jessie Sudduth had eight carries for 36 yards and a touchdown, and Charles Potts finished with six carries for 53 yards and a score.
Murphy got things started right away in the first quarter when he was off to the races for a 23-yard touchdown and got the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0. It wasn’t until the second quarter that the Eagles would score again, but Murphy would get them on the board hitting Pittman for a 34-yard catch and another 2-point conversion pushed it out to 16-0. On the next possession, Sudduth got a touchdown reception of his own, catching one from 5 yards away, and Murphy would also find him on 2-point conversion making it 24-0 with the Eagles running away with it.
After FCA got a touchdown right before the half and another one at the beginning of the 3rd quarter to close that lead to 24-12 suddenly, the Eagles had a little pressure on them to make a play.
FCA would have the ball in the 4th quarter when a bad snap over the head of the quarterback would go into the end zone for a safety. In the final 4 minutes of the game, the Eagles would score a touchdown on Charles Potts’ run, had a second safety on defense, and then Powell would run back a kickoff for a touchdown to provide the big win.
The Eupora defense had some big plays in the game. Along with the two safeties, the team had 9.0 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks. Eli Clark led the team with 12 tackles, and Chris Robinson had 10. But Gray didn’t like the fact that FCA ran nearly 60 plays on that side of the ball, and the team spent a lot of time on the field on defense.
“I just don’t think we’re physical up front, especially on the defensive line. We’ve got some guys that can be really good, but as coaches we have to figure it out,” Gray said. “I think they ran 59 plays, and we couldn’t get off the field. Offensively, we’ve got to stick to the plan and not have our eyes and ears at other places. We’ve got to make sure that we do what we’re supposed to do.”
The win was a good one for the Eagles to get, and they celebrated on Friday night. But it was back to work on Saturday, and this week as they try to build on that.
Next up for Eupora is a matchup with Biggersville. The Lions won a state championship just a couple of years ago and have an improved team that got a huge win in week one against a solid West Lowndes program. It’s a group that Gray said will be ready for another win on Friday when they come to Webster County.
“They’re really good and have improved a lot from last year. You can tell there’s a lot more consistency,” Gray said of the Lions. “They’re coached up, balanced on offense, and can throw it well. They have two backs and wide outs that can run really well. Defensively, they’re really aggressive and run to the ball well. They’ll get after you. They’re a really fun team to watch, and we’re going to have our hands full with them.
