Whew! 3 and 0

By
September 10, 2005

It has been awhile since I have come from a game that the team I was pulling for outscored the other team but I felt like we lost the game. The Brownwood Lions came limping into Shotwell without a win this season and left the same way reading the 17-15 numbers on the score board. If you witnessed the game you might feel as I do that the Eagles were defeated. I know that will not make many Abilene High fans happy but that is my take. Regardless if you feel that way or not, Abilene High had an off night and the Brownwood Lions contributed to it.

The Eagles did not block well nor tackle well. Playing like that, how did we escape with the win against a team that has not won this year? The Eagle D made some huge plays at the most opportunistic times. Let’s give the Defensive game balls out now. The paper this morning says Andrew Hamaty blocked the field goal that would have put Brownwood ahead . Enjoy your game ball Andrew. Mr. Wade Baker gets a game ball for his interception that set up an Eagle TD. I also give a game ball to Braden Kehl for his punting. He averaged nearly 40 yards a punt last night. That is a tremendous increase over last weeks average. I mentioned the turnovers that the Eagles had. It seemed like watching the game that the Eagles defense was on the field a lot. Reading the stats in the paper I am not sure that was true. They indicate that Brownwood ran the ball 37 times and passed the ball 13 times for a total of 50 touches. What doesn’t show in those stats is the TD Brownwood scored on an 84 interception return by Bart Johnson.

The Abilene High Eagles had 53 touches on offense with 27 rushes and 26 passes. Once again the Eagles showed great balance between rushing and passing. What did not happen was the high percentage of completed passes usually enjoyed by Abilene High. Taylor Potts was 14 of 26 for 161 yards with two interceptions, one of which was the aforementioned play made by Bart Johnson. Game ball for the offense goes to kicker Cory Rodriguez for his 28 yard FG with less than four minutes left in the game that put Abilene High up 17-7.

Lyle Leong caught 4 passes for 92 yards and one TD leading the Eagle receivers. He injured his foot or ankle early in the second half and did not return. Xavier Beaver led the ground attack for the Eagles gaining 65 yards on 15 carries.

To the Eagles credit, they won a tight game even though they struggled. I expect those who vote for the Top 10 will have Abilene High slipping in the rankings. This game may well make Abilene High more focused for games in the weeks to come. Let’s hope so.

Next week finds the Eagles on the road to play Belton who is also undefeated for the year, Belton beat Georgetown last night. Eagles fans will remember that Phil Blue is the coach at Georgetown this season after serving at Abilene High as offensive coordinator.

FOCUS!

GoFridayNight Team Pages