Abilene High 33 Rockhurst 14

By
September 24, 2005

When Abilene Cooper takes the field, a couple of their guys come out carrying an American flag. The first time I saw it and the last time I saw it and every time in between it has given me chill bumps. Last night in Texas Stadium, the Abilene High Eagles took the field with one of their players hoisting the Texas flag. The Eagles were not trying to copy Cooper. What they were doing was sending a message to the other team, which happened to be from Missouri. The message was “you’re in Texas now boys”.

That isn’t the only way the Eagles sent a message. They sent a message on the field with their offensive, defensive, and special teams play. It was loud and clear. “DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS” and don’t mess with the Eagles of Abilene High. Eagle fans could not have been any more proud of their team.

Rockhurst, a private school from Missouri came into the confines of Texas Stadium with an undefeated record this season and the Number One ranking in Missouri high school football. They have a talented team. They have good size and some speed but they had a hard time getting into their regular rhythm on offense and never really got their defense in a consistent mode either. They turned the ball over on either fumbles or interceptions and were never able to use the game plan they had in mind. Basically they, Rockhurst, made too many mistakes.

Abilene High’s defensive unit contributed heavily to the mistakes made by the other team. They were hitting hard and putting pressure on the Rockhurst quarterbacks. The pressure was on from the front defensive line and linebackers because the Eagle pass defenders covered the Rockhurst receivers like a blanket most to the night. A couple of times when the receivers were open they dropped the ball. No matter if Rockhurst used their passing qb or the scrambling qb the Eagles defensive unit was their to make the stop, recover the fumbles, make an interception or just throw a wrench in whatever the Rockhurst team was wanting to accomplish.

I have noted in past blogs that the Abilene High offense has sputtered in recent weeks. Against Rockhust Friday night they were very effective putting points on the scoreboard when the defense presented them with the ball. They did it with equal precision running and throwing the ball. The Eagles passing attack accounted for 220 yards while the rushing attack gained another 190 yards plus on 31 rushing attempts. Through it all the Eagles built a 20-0 halftime lead and won the game 33-14.

Rockhust had a beautiful offensive series in the third quarter where they drove for their first touchdown. They were forced to converting three 4th downs into first downs. They moved the ball well on the ground and through the air. It was too little to late. It did eat up something like five minutes of the third quarter which also kept the ball away form the Eagle offense. However, Rockhurst could not sustain other drives consistently and the Eagles scored on two additional possessions. Xavier Beaver scored on an 18 yard pass play. He then came back and scored on and electrifying 60 yard run that had him running east and west much more than his usual North and South style of running. He managed to get out wide to the left side line and made some very ninth moves and then out ran the defenders to the end zone. It was a beautifully executed run aided by great downfield blocks.

Rockhurst came back with a beautiful pass play that almost scored and their qb eventually got in for a touchdown on a quarterback sneak to end the scoring.

The Eagles are now a perfect 5-0 for the year. Next week is an open date and then the following week Odessa High will bring their 5-0 record to Shotwell Stadium as the second season, better know as District will begin.

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