With an extremely young football team, Eupora’s Stephen Edwards knew the first two games of the season were going to be tough.
The visiting Tigers of Noxapater scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half to pull away and beat the Eagles 32-15 on Friday night. Eupora falls to 0-2 on the season while Noxapater improves to 2-0 on the year.
Edwards said the Eagles had their chances but had trouble stopping the Tigers’ rushing attack.
“It was a tough one,” Edwards said. “We played hard, we just didn’t lineup right at times on defense and block the right people on offense. Noxapater has some really good skill guys. They are pretty good up front and they did a good job of scheming. I thought they did a good job on both sides.”
The Tigers got the ball to start the game when they recovered the opening kickoff. The Tigers then drove 46 yards in nine plays as K.D. Carter scored on a 2-yard run. The PAT failed and Noxapater led 6-0.
The Eagles bounced right back as Cade Adkins hit Tra McComb on a short pass that the speedster turned into a 61-yard touchdown. Kimble Dillinger booted the PAT and Eupora led 7-6.
“I thought Tra played really well,” Edwards said. “He had some good runs and was good in open space. We blocked well at times. I thought the kickoff and special teams weren’t bad. Overall, I thought we played hard, we just have to line up right.”
The Tigers answered Eupora’s score with another long scoring drive as they went 75 yards in eight plays as Carter scored on a 4-yard quarterback keeper. The PAT failed and Noxapater led 12-7.
After a Eupora punt, the Tigers ate up most of the second quarter with a 12-play, 70-yard drive as Carter scored on a 14-yard run with 3:36 left in the half. The two-point try failed and Noxapater led 18-7.
The Eagles put together an impressive drive to end the half as they got down to the Noxapater 1 but couldn’t crack the end zone as the Tigers went into the half with an 18-7 lead.
“We had our chances there to make it close,” Edwards said. “We got down to the 1 and should have scored. We should have been under center but that’s on me. We’ve got to score when we get down in the red zone.”
Noxapater received the ball to start the second half but fumbled it on a bad snap, giving Eupora the ball deep in the Tigers territory.
The Eagles needed six plays to find the end zone as McComb scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. The try for two was good as Adkins hit Travon McMillian to cut the lead to 18-15.
But the Tigers answered right back as the offense went 60 yards in four plays. Carter ripped off a 43-yard run and then score on a 14-yard run with 6:28 left in the third. The PAT was good and the Tigers led 25-15.
Noxapater added one last score late in the fourth as Carter scored on a 4-yard run for the final margin.
The Eagles had 180 yards of total offense. Adkins was 8-of-15 passing for 127 yards. McComb had 29 yards rushing on seven carries while McMillian had 24 yards rushing on eight carries. Tyjuan Hughes had four catches for 25 yards while McComb had two catches for 74 yards.
Deunte Watson led the defense with 12 tales while M.J. Thomas had 11 tackles. Zak Morris had nine tackles while Landon Davis added seven tackles and two for a loss. Abraham Hodges added five tackles and one for a loss.
