By: Noah Maddox
The Eagleville Eagles came into Friday night looking to rebound after their shutout loss to Chapel Hill last week, and they did just that.
Houston County responded in one play after the Eagles scored on their opening drive as senior quarterback Andrew Meadow ran down the right sideline for an 84-yard touchdown. The Fighting Irish decided to go for two, and after the successful conversion, they led 8-7.
That would be the last time Houston County would have the lead, however, as Eagleville quickly re-established control on the very first play of their next drive. Eagles’ Senior quarterback Marcus Collins dropped back and connected with junior standout wide receiver Kaden Snitzer for a 60-yard touchdown to retake the lead 15-8 after the successful two-point conversion.
Houston County would go three and out on the next series, giving Eagleville the ball back. Senior tailback Dylan Pratt took over on this drive, and he capped it off with a 36-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles on top 22-7 with 3:50 still to go in the first quarter.
The Fighting Irish would respond with yet another one-play touchdown drive, as Meadow once again finds the end zone with his legs, this time from 76 yards out to trim the deficit to 22-14.
Eagleville methodically marches down to the Houston Country red zone on the ensuing drive, looking to extend their lead into the second quarter. However, the Irish hold strong on fourth down, taking over inside their own 20-yard line. To make matters worse, Snitzer went down holding his elbow. He would not return to action, as his elbow could be seen wrapped up on the sidelines.
That fourth-down stop would be the last good moments for Houston County, as they went three and out, and Eagleville would proceed to go on a 27-0 run the rest of the game.
The Irish could never sustain any drives with their rushing attack, and it was apparent Eagleville didn’t respect their passing attack as they would consistently have 8 and 9 players in the box to stop the run. When Houston County did try to throw, Meadow could never get on the same page with his receivers.
Eagleville would go on to control the rest of the game with their rushing attack, scoring their last two touchdowns on long runs in the fourth quarter to put the game away for good, 49-14.
Eagleville will host Moore County next week, while Houston County will be looking to rebound on the road against Union City.