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Eagles outlast Immanuel in 8-Man |
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Friday, 21 September 2007 |
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By Keith Rainville
Sports Editor 9-20-2007 The Lone Pine football team came out swinging on Saturday at Immanuel Christian, rolling up 22 unanswered points and hanging tough for a 58-42 win. Unlike last week’s defensive battle in Big Pine, Saturday’s game was more the norm for 8-man football with touchdowns coming fast and furious.
“They weren’t able to stop our running game,” said Eagles’ head coach Dale Newell. “Our offensive line was clearing big holes and we were running at will.”
In addition to battling the Crusaders on the field, strange things were afoot in the second half. The IC head coach got ejected in the third quarter for pushing a Lone Pine player, and then a Crusaders player also got the boot in the fourth quarter. The game started at 1 p.m. but the final whistle didn’t blow before 4:30 p.m. According to Eagles’ coaches and observers, there were several times when the game clock simple did not start for plays.
Coach Newell said that his team lost a little bit of momentum at the end of the first half when IC was able to drive and score, cutting the lead to 22-6. At the beginning of the second half, the Eagles came out flat, and the Crusaders scored again for a 22-12 score.
“After they scored that quick TD we picked it up,” said Newell. “It was back-and-forth for awhile until the fourth quarter.”
Newell credited the large crowd of Lone Pine supporters for helping the Eagles get back on track in the fourth quarter and back to controlling the game.
“We lost our composure a little bit,” said Newell of the second half. The head coach said he took a few moments with two of his senior leaders, Joe Ruiz and David Jones, and told them that they had been in tough situations before, that they knew what to do and to just go out and “get it done.”
IC scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to close the gap to 42-44, and Lone Pine felt the pressure.“The kids were getting tight and we were losing our chemistry,” said Newell, “but we got it back and scored a quick TD to regain the momentum and then our defense smothered them. We got the ball back on downs and scored again.”
The Eagles were able to handle the adversity of a game opponent on their home field with all the advantages that entails.
Throughout the day, the Lone Pine offense was clicking. “We had real good blocking and David made some real timely throws,” according to Newell. “Edwin Castro made a huge catch for us, and Joe (Ruiz) had 5 catches for 42 yards.”
Jones was 6-13 passing on the day, including a pair of TDs to Ruiz for 2 and 21 yards. Jones also ran for 78 yards, finding the end zone 3 times. Jeremy Pierce continued to run hard and fast, piling up 64 yards with a TD. Elder Rodriguez powered away at fullback, running north-south for 37 yards.
On defense, Blake Nogales had another big day at end. “This kid is playing great,” summarized Newell. Nogales recovered a pair of fumbles, running one back for a score and having a second TD called back by an inadvertent whistle. Nogales had 10 tackles on the day. Rodriguez led the team with 14 tackles to go with a big sack.
The Lone Pine secondary had a great day as well, intercepting 4 passes. Castro did a nice job at defensive back, reaching out for an interception and returning it all the way for a score. Jones also was patrolling the secondary at his safety position, running down a pair of picks. Pierce also got in on the action with an interception and 12 tackles. Ruiz and Luis Rodriguez helped control the middle of the field, each piling up 11 tackles with Rodriguez also dropping the QB for a pair of sacks. Carlos Alaniz had a big blocked punt and a sack to go with 9 tackles.
With the win, Lone Pine improved to 2-0, that’s right, 2-0. The undefeated Eagles play their first home game Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Lee Vining. The Tigers have been ranked in the 8-Man Small top-10, and the game should be a real test of will power.
“The boys held up real well at Immanuel Christian during that long game,” said Newell. “If they weren’t working hard all year, they wouldn’t have made it.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 November 2007 )
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