After three straight losses, Eupora football coach Stephen Edwards said he would take a win any way he could get it.
In the division opener for both teams, the Eagles used a stingy defense and took a baseball like 5-2 win over Bruce on Friday night. With the win, the Eagles improve to 2-5 on the season but 1-0 in Division 2-2A play and will face traditional power Calhoun City this week.
After starting the season 1-5 against a rugged schedule, Edwards didn’t care what the final score was.
“It was a baseball score, but I will take it,” Edwards said. “I told an assistant that we played small ball but that doesn’t matter, we got the win. I told the radio guy that I didn’t care whether it was 1-0 or 50-59, as long as we won, I didn’t care. We played solid on a defense and just sort of stayed the course and found a way to win. I’m extremely proud of our kids and the way they played.”
The Eupora offense showed signs of improvement and moved inside the Bruce 20 on its second drive after a 53-yard run by Tra McComb. But the drive stalled and the Eagles turned it over on downs.
After a short punt by Bruce gave Eupora the ball at the Trojans 35, the Eagles settled for a 28-yard field goal by Kimble Dillinger with 7:02 left in the second quarter for a 3-0 lead that held until halftime.
“We have been playing hard and some of that started to pay off on Friday night,” Edwards said. “I thought we were better on offense. Tra came back for us and gave us a spark and some more speed. We just have to protect the ball and get first downs and shorten the games.”
In the second half, the two teams exchanged punts to open the half. But a punt by Dillinger pinned the Trojans at their own 4. The Eagles then got a safety by Landon Davis with 6:37 left in the third to take a 5-0 lead.
“I thought some of our older kids stepped up on defense,” Edwards said. “M.J. Thomas, Zak Morris, Landon Davis all played well. M.J. and Landon made life difficult for their offense. I thought we did a good job of mashing the tight end and taking away the power, which was their best play. I thought those guys set the tone.”
After going up 5-0, the game turned into a defensive battle. Bruce was driving late in the fourth but fumbled and Aiden Penick recovered to end the drive. Eupora was then forced to punt and snapped the ball out of the back of the end zone with 1:49 left to play.
The Eupora defense held and Travon McMillian intercepted a pass late to to secure the win.
Eupora had 183 yards of total offense as Cade Adkins was 10-14 passing for 80 yards. McComb led the rushing attack with 81 yards on 16 carries. Tyjuan Hughes had 32 yards receiving on four carries while Deunte Watson had 28 yards receiving on two catches.
Davis led the defense with 12 tackles and the safety while Thomas had 10 tackles. Ty Murphy, Payton Collums and Sammy Bowie each had five tackles apiece while Morris, Deunte Watson and Kyle Kilgore each had four tackles apiece.
