After a trying regular season that saw the Eupora football team win just three games, Friday night was something special.
The Eagles used a stingy defense and some strong play from freshmen quarterback Ty Murphy as they went on the road to beat Walnut 23-12 in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Eupora improves to 4-7 on the season and will now host unbeaten Northside on Friday night in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.
For a team that struggled with a brutal non-division schedule, Friday night’s win was a huge win for coach Stephen Edwards young squad.
“Any time you win a payoff game, especially on the road, it’s a good win,” Edwards said. “We have won home games but road games are tough and any time you win on the road, that is big. We will get to play at home and that’s huge for this group of kids. I’m especially proud of the five seniors, I thought all of them played well and and were good leaders. I’m just really proud for those guys. They have stuck together through some tough times this season.”
Walnut got the ball to start the game and Eupora got an interception from Darius Brown to set the tone for the game.
After trading possessions, Eupora put together an 11-play drive but lost the football on a Tra McComb fumble. Walnut then went 61 yards in six plays and scored on a 30-yard run midway through the second quarter. The PAT failed and Walnut led 6-0.
That lead didn’t last long as the Eagles went 47 yards in three plays as Murphy hit Deunte Watson on a 35-yard touchdown pass. Kimble Dillinger booted the PAT and Eupora led 7-6 with 5:16 left in the second quarter.
That score held until halftime after Tyjuan Hughes came down with an interception right before the half to end a Walnut threat.
“I was kind of worried after the off week and were not able to get outside but a few days,” Edwards said. “We were fortunate to get outside and you could tell that we were hungry. I had a great feeling about it. You could just tell by how they practiced. It was as good of a week as we have had all year. I knew, win or lose, that we were going to play hard. I knew the effort was going to be there and that’s what we got.”
Eupora got the ball to start the second half and put together 10-play drive but turned the ball over on downs at the Walnut 3.
The defense held tight and forced a punt netted no yards, giving Eupora the ball at the Walnut three. Murphy then called his own number and scored on a 3-yard run. Murphy also ran in the two-point conversion as Eupora led 15-6.
Walnut answered with a 10-play drive and scored on a 1-yard turn on the first play of the fourth quarter. The try for two failed and Eupora held on to a 15-12 lead.
After trading punts, Eupora put together an eight-play, 67-yard drive as Murphy scored on a 10-yard run. The two-point conversion was good as Brayden Allred scored to give Eupora a 23-12 led.
“I thought Ty ran the ball well and managed the game well for us,” Edwards said. “Cade separated his shoulder against East Webster so Ty stepped in and got his first start. He has played some but it was his first start. I thought we blocked well and caught some passes. As the game progressed, I thought we got more comfortable with what we were trying to do.”
The Eagles had a balanced offense attack with 160 yards passing and 189 yards rushing for 349 yards of total offense.
Murphy led the way on offense as he was 9-of-15 passing for 160 yards and had 130 yards rushing on 20 carries. Travon McMillan had 51 yards rushing on nine carries. Tra McComb ha 72 yards receiving on four catches while Tyjuan Hughes had 43 yards on two carries.
On defense, Deunte Watson led the Eagles with 10 tackles while M.J. Thomas had nine tackles. Tra McComb and Chris Robinson each had seven tackles apiece while Landon Davis, Zak Morris and Kyle Kilgore each had six tackles apiece. Sammy Bowiehad five tackles while Payton Collums had four tackles.
