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EHS locks down Broad Street, 53-14 |
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Saturday, 07 November 2009 |
By MATTHEW STEVENS
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EUPORA – If this was the last time Eupora got to play in front of its home fans, the Eagles surely made it count.
The fifth-ranked Eagles (10-1) easily handled Broad Street 53-14 in the first round of Class 2A playoff action Friday night.
“I promise I wasn’t lying about how talented they were,” Eupora head coach Junior Graham said. “My kids just played real well and responded all week in practice.”
Five different Eupora players scored rushing touchdowns throughout the night as the Eagles offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage to the tune of 210 rushing yards in the first half.
“We didn’t think they’d seen a team line up and run it run up the middle as much this season,” Graham said. “We knew running east and west would be a problem with their speed.”
Eupora was not forced to punt until there was 9:30 left in the game.
Eupora tailback DeMarcus Pass ended the game with a game-high 147 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.
Pass would’ve completed the touchdown hat trick had he not fumbled at the goal line in the third quarter and the touchdown credit went to Luke Pogue who fell on the ball.
The Eagles defense kept the Jaguars offense out of the end zone for the first 40 minutes of the game despite facing three first-and-goal situations by the Broad Street (5-6) offense.
“Our defense did a real good against that quarterback because he’s a real special player,” Graham said.
Broad Street’s spread option attack was held to just 49 yards of total offense in a first half that saw Eupora go into the locker room with a dominating 28-0 advantage.
Eupora got the scoring started off with its first possession of the game as quarterback Tre’ McCarthy took a bootleg fake 7 yards for a touchdown scamper to make it 7-0 with a little under six minutes left in the first quarter.
“He made some big throws early and we were going to have him run the ball more but when we got up big early I told the coaches he didn’t need to be doing that just yet,” Graham said with a smile.
Before the senior signal caller was taken out early in the third quarter, McCarthy finished 5-for-10 for 79 yards and the touchdown run.
On the next play of the game, Broad Street’s senior quarterback mishandled a spread draw handoff with his tailback and the Eagles recovered the fumble deep in their own territory.
Two plays later, Pass found the end zone on only his second carry of the game on a run play off left guard for a 13-yard touchdown run.
Jeremy Wright and Pass would find the end zone to complete long, time-consuming drives before the halftime whistle.
Broad Street got its scores late in the fourth quarter after Graham took out nearly all of his starters on both sides of the ball.
Eupora will now travel to West Bolivar to play the top-ranked undefeated team in Class 2A in the second round next week after it defeated Bruce 35-12.
“They aren’t bullet proof, Superman or anything like that,” Graham said. “Ackerman and us both knew we’d be playing tough games if got to round two. You never know what might happen.”
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 November 2009 )
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