After a disappointing loss to the Diablos in the season opener, the Eagles got back to their winning ways this week with an impressive win over the Rams. With the win, the Eagles evened their record to 1-1 for the season.
The game started off on a good note with Dakota Neer returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Dakota fielded the ball at mid field, bounced off of a few defenders, cut to the outside and outran the Rams defenders down the sideline.
From there, the Eagles stingy defense took it to the Rams on their first possession and forced a turnover on downs. It looked like it was going to be an awfully long day for the Rams as the Eagles scored again on their next possession on another touchdown romp by Neer. The Rams were thinking otherwise.
On their next possession, the Rams managed to break a long run to set up first and goal inside the Eagles ten yard line. The Eagles didn’t make it easy for the Rams as they stuffed the Rams on first and second down, but the Rams executed a nice sweep to the corner of the endzone on third down. The first quarter ended with the Eagles leading 14-6.
The Eagles were driving on their third possession and threatening to score yet again, when the Rams forced a fumble and regained possession. As it was pretty much the entire day, the Eagles defense controlled the line of scrimmage and stuffed the Rams running game. So, the Rams decided to take a few shots downfield through the air.
The Eagles secondary led by Wyatt Harris and Tony Saba were up to the task though as they deflected passes and forced incompletions on several attempts. Toward the end of the first half, Harris deflected a ball and Saba made an exceptional diving interception to regain possession for the Eagles. Unfortunately, the half ended before the Eagles could add another score to their tally.
The second half saw the Eagles open on defense. Once again, the Eagles shut down the Rams with superior team speed and gang tackling. Meanwhile, running back Dakota Neer was suffering from an elbow injury that prohibited him from playing in the second half.
The Eagles turned to Danny Kittner, who had an outstanding second half running the football. Danny deeked and juked his way thru traffic and generally ran tougher with each carry as the Rams defense started to show signs of wear and tear.
The Eagles defense picked up where they left off in the second half as they dominated the line of scrimmage and played disciplined defense on the edges. The Rams never really threatened to score in the second half. The same can’t be said for the Eagles defense. That’s right people… I said defense. Just before the end of the third quarter, Wyatt Harris intercepted an errant Rams pass and nearly took it to the house! It was a beautiful read by Harris and a play that set up the Eagles offense deep in Rams territory.
After several 3rd quarter near misses, Danny Kittner finally broke into the open on a sweep to the far side of the field and turned on the jets as he took the corner and dashed into the endzone for a TD. The Eagles missed the point after try, but the way the Eagles defense had been playing, you sensed that Kittner’s TD run was ultimately the straw that broke the camels back.
The Eagles mercifully called off the dogs after regaining possession one last time and essentially ran out the clock on their way to their first taste of victory of this young season.
The fifth quarter brought much of the same as Moore and Lopez romped for a few long TD runs to cap off a great overall day on the gridiron for the Eagles.
1 response so far ↓
1 Merlyn Poppleton // Sep 21, 2008 at 9:31 pm
wyatt, I wish I could have been there, it sounds like you played a great game. Tell your mom to get a movie camera so we all can enjoy the game. Playing in the secondary is a key position, reserved for the fastest and best players. Good job , your Grandpa is very happy for you and very proud of you.
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