San Tan Youth Football League Eagles

The Eagles took the field this Saturday in a huge game against the undefeated Rams.  Win and the Eagles would draw even with the Rams and Special Forces for first place in the division.  Lose and the Eagles would join the other 4 teams that the Rams had disposed of in the first half of the season. In fact, to this point of the season, the Rams had outscored their opponents 87-0.

The Eagles came out slugging in the first half on both sides of the ball.  The offense was able to move the ball effectively on the ground and the defense was doing a great job stopping the Rams triple option offense.  The game remained tied 0-0 as the first quarter drew to a close.  The Eagles had the ball and were marching into Rams territory.  Then it happened, Parker Holland took a handoff and raced into the end zone for the games first score as the Eagles sideline erupted with emotion.  There was much left to accomplish, but the Eagles had just accomplished two things that no other team had done to this point in the season… scored and held a lead over the Rams.  The extra point attempt failed, but the Eagles led the game 6-0 and man it felt darn good.

The Rams took the ball and matriculated the ball down the field with a pound the ball, move the chains mentality.  The Rams ultimately scored as the second quarter was drawing to a close and converted the extra point to regain the lead 7-6.  The Rams may have grasped the lead and the momentum, but it had to be clear from their perspective that the Eagles were no pushovers and would test them in the second half.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the game sort of got away from them in the second half.  It wasn’t that the Rams did anything all that spectacular, they just were a bit more consistent and ultimately wore the Eagles down with their student body right formations and their run/pass option sets.  To their credit, the Rams kept the Eagles defense on it’s heels with a well balance run/pass attack that at time left the Eagles defense a bit flat footed.  The Rams ended up winning 25-6, but this was one of those games where the final score by itself doesn’t accurately reflect the relative competitiveness of the actual game.  It was a tough lesson for our young men, but I have a feeling they will fare better against the Rams if we face them again in the playoffs.