On Friday night Edward Little (2-2)
faced off with Windham (2-2). A solid defense and productive offense put the
Eagles back in the winning column after a tough loss last week. Both defenses started
out strong but Windham broke the 0-0 tie with the first score of the game.
After stopping Edward Little with a much improved defense and ensuing punt, Windham
began their drive deep in their own territory. A few plays later Blake Houser
caught one of his two receiving touchdown passes. This touchdown, a 75-yard
swing pass thrown by Desmond Leslie, was aided by excellent downfield blocking.
With the score still 7-0 late in the
second quarter Leslie would again find Houser, this time wide open. A perfectly
thrown ball found its mark and Houser took it 70 yards for Windham’s second
score with 1:22 remaining. With a failed attempt at a two point conversion
Windham took a 13-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
With 5:39 remaining in the third quarter,
a drive, fueled by a string of Windham penalties, resulted in a 17-yard scoring
pass by EL’s Grant Hartley that found the hands of Tyler Blanchard. It would be
their first and only score of the game. Although the extra point was blocked,
the touchdown at the time did reduce Windham’s lead and that’s how the third
quarter ended, with Windham up by seven. The only other time Edward Little got
close to scoring was when Hartley threw a bomb, which if caught would have put
them in the end zone. One official threw a flag for pass interference, but
after a brief discussion with the other officials the pass was ruled as
uncatchable and the call subsequently reversed in Windham’s favor.
The rest of second half would be
dominated by the Eagles as they would continue to score. On the first play of
the fourth quarter, Leslie took off up the middle on a quarterback draw for a
10-yard touchdown. The point after was good and Windham had a 20-6 lead. With
6:13 remaining in the game, Leslie put the icing on the cake with a quarterback
draw from EL’s 33. Leslies’ 177 yards passing and 111 rushing for two
touchdowns combined with Houser’s 145 yards and two touchdowns gave the offense
a total of 433 yards and proved to be one of the deciding factors in the game.
EL is known for its passing game and it
was obvious Perkins had his defense prepared. Constant pressure on Hartley
forced him out of the pocket which resulted in three sacks and two
interceptions. He would finish 24 of 41 throws for 207 yards. This and
excellent open field tackling by the Eagles, when he did complete passes,
prevented any measurable success.
After the game a comparison was made how
the game stacked up against last week’s squeaker with Thornton Academy. “Last
week we had our chances against a stronger team but didn’t finish. We took a
lot of big steps forward and tonight it showed. We have a lot of good talent
with our quarterbacks and receivers. While we have had some injuries, the
players have stepped up,” said Head Coach Matt Perkins.
After starting the season at 2-0 the
Eagles dropped their last two games. Their hope is that with this win they will
be back on the right path. Their next game is at home against non-conference
rival and undefeated 5-0 Bonny Eagle. Game time is 7 p.m.
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