Eagles win battle of the birds
After allowing the University of Texas Permian Basin Falcons back into the game in the third quarter, Saturday, the Chadron State Eagles locked the game down in the fourth, holding the Falcons pointless while scoring three touchdowns to win 43-21 at home.
The win was the Eagles’ second straight and moved the team to 3-4 this season. Permian fell to 2-5. It was their fifth consecutive loss.
“In the third quarter we had a bit of a lull, but were able to finish it in the fourth quarter, put a nail in the coffin, and walk away with a win,” CSC Head Football Coach Jay Long said.
Leading just 27-21 with 11:47 left in the game, the Eagles’ Cole Thurness fielded a Permian punt in Falcon territory and took the ball 42 yards into the end zone, extending Chadron’s lead to 33-21 and kick starting the team’s fourth-quarter dominance.
Permian’s next drive ended on second and 10 when Eagle safety Tyree Fryar, senior of Burlington, New Jersey, intercepted a pass from Falcon quarterback Kameron Mathis, and returned the ball 30 yards to the Permian 18-yard line. Though the Falcons held the Eagles to fourth and goal at the 9-yard line, Chadron kicker Colton Dolder, freshman of Santa Clarita, California, hit his third field goal of the game to put the Eagles ahead 36-21.
The Eagles hammered in the final nail when running back Elijah Myles, sophomore of Hawthorne, California, broke free for a 42-yard TD run on second and seven to make it 43-21 with about three minutes remaining.
“Going into the game our goal was to put four full quarters together and we came out in that first half and dominated both lines of scrimmage,” Long said. “I thought that in the first two quarters we executed our game plan on both sides of the ball about as well as we could.”
But following halftime the Falcons made adjustments that helped them outscore the Eagles 14-0 in the third quarter.
“Football is a game of chess,” Long said. “One team reacts and the other team has to then be able to adjust to those adjustments.”
Long said the Falcons defensive line began playing less aggressive in the third, letting the play come to them and making it difficult for Chadron to execute their run-pass offense. Eventually the team was able to adjust and take the Permian D-line out of its game plan.
While the Falcons’ defense held CSC at bay, the offense went to work, building on the momentum they gained when Mathis found receiver Jeremiah Cooley for a 9-yard TD with just two minutes remaining in the first half. With 8:27 left in the third quarter, Mathis threw to Kobe Robinson who went 36 yards to make it 27-14 and with about three minutes remaining Mathis ran the ball in from the 1-yard line to put the Falcons within one score of the lead.
“Offensively, they just threw a couple long bombs on us,” Long said.
Despite the success the Falcons had in the third quarter, Long said he was pleased with how his defense played, pointing out that the Eagles’ backfield has six injured starters.
The defense sacked Mathis five times, led by freshman defensive lineman Joel Carpenter, redshirt freshman of Sturgis, South Dakota, who was credited with two for a loss of 12 yards. Noah Kerchal, sophomore of Benkelman, and Joey Geil, redshirt freshman of Casper, Wyoming, each had one sack and Brendan Hopkins and Travis Wilson were each credited with a half.
With some help from their special teams, the defense also won the turnover battle, recovering two of five Permian fumbles and intercepting Mathis once. Following the Eagles’ final TD of the game, what little chance the Falcons had of making a comeback was made even less possible when CSC’s Zeke Zuhlke, junior of Bennett, Colorado, forced Permian returner Caleb Forrest, freshman of Hutto, Texas, to fumble and Eagle Bryant Wilson, sophomore of Alliance, recovered the ball.
On offense, the Eagles didn’t manage to make it into the end zone until their third drive of the game, but kicker Dolder helped the team put points on the board with a 34-yard field goal during the first drive and a 32-yarder during the team’s second.
Leading 6-0, Chadron’s Dalton Holst neatly dropped a pass over a Falcon defender and into the arms of receiver Tevon Wright, senior of Miami, who was nearing the south corner of the west end zone. The touchdown put the team up 13-0.
In the second, Holst hit Thurness for a 24-yard score with about 10 minutes left in the half to make it 20-0. Holst then found receiver Chad Mikelson for a 25-yard TD, making it 27-0 with just under five minutes remaining in the second.
The Chadron offense netted 484 total yards, 256 through the air and another 228 on the ground. Holst completed 15 of 31 passes, had three passing TDs and was intercepted once.
The Eagle receivers were led by Thurness who had 81 yards and a touchdown on three catches, including a long of 48 yards. Teammates Fullerton and Mikelson weren’t far behind with 47 and 46 yards respectively. Fullerton caught two passes and Mikelson caught three. Wright had 40 yards and a TD on three catches.
The run game was led by Myles who had been nursing an injury during the Eagles’ previous three games. The sophomore had 179 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Stevann Brown, senior of Casper, Wyoming, who was limited in the game because of a knee injury, had 62 yards on four carries.