PREBLE COUNTY — During week two of high school football, National Trail moved to 2-0 on the season, Shawnee fell to 0-2 and Eaton picked up its first win of the season.
Eaton completes 10-7 win over Oakwood in final minutes
The Eagles picked up their first win of the season, kicking a field goal in the final minutes to take the lead.
Oakwood struck early, scoring a rushing touchdown on the opening drive after the Eagles gave up a third down conversion due to a blown coverage assignment, taking the 7-0 lead.
After punts by both teams, Eaton got the ball back and was able to tie things up by getting into the end zone via a rushing touchdown from senior Dawson Blaylock on a fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line.
Another series of punts sent the game to halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, it was a sloppy second half by both teams with four consecutive punts to begin the half.
Later, Eaton was intercepted by Oakwood and provided them with a short field, but the Lumberjacks returned the favor by throwing an interception on third-and-long to set up the game-winning drive for the Eagles.
With 7:12 to play, Eaton started from its own 41-yard line and completed a screen pass from Blaylock to junior Aiden Williams.
[It] was a huge play, flipped the field – very similar to the Oakwood passing play in the first series,” Eaton coach Brad Davis said.
After the play, the Eagles were able to come away with a field goal for the 10-7 lead with under two minutes to play.
Oakwood got themselves in a position to win it, but missed a long field goal as time expired to secure the 10-7 win for Eaton.
“I want to first credit Oakwood with how hard they played all night, specifically their defense,” Davis said. “But, I thought we missed some scoring opportunities throughout the game.”
Defensively, he said the Eagles allowed too many third down conversion, especially in the first half.
“Overall, we played good enough to win and that’s the most important thing,” Davis said. “But it was sloppy at times; just little things need corrected before they turn into big things. We’ll learn from the film, fix our mistakes and get to work on Monroe.”
The Eagles will head on the road next to take Monroe on Friday, Sept. 11.
National Trail dominates Bradford 41-7
The Blazers have marched their way to a 2-0 start after a dismantling of Bradford this past Friday.
Seniors Jacob Ray (12 carries) and Dallas Smith (nine carries) both rushed for 70 yards and two touchdown.
Smith added 91 passing yards for the Blazers.
Trail’s offense, including sophomore Yiorgo Maroulinakis with 39 yards and one touchdown, and sophomore Cayden Clark with 56 yards and one touchdown, combined for 375 yards of total offense with no punts on the evening.
Defensively, sophomore Jordan Heck led the Blazers with eight tackles and added half a sack.
Stiner had six tackles, a sack and one interception, junior Ethan Wilson had six tackles, a sack and one tackle for loss, senior Kole Glander had four tackles and 1.5 sacks, seniors Zack horn and Payton Mann each had half a sack, and sophomore Brenden Simpson added another sack for six total sacks by the Blazers.
Sophomore Phoenix Lewis also had a fumble recovery.
Overall, Trail allowed just 175 yards.
National Trail will take the field next against Tri-Village on the road on Friday, Sept. 11.
Preble Shawnee drops first game 42-7 to Waynesville
It was a challenging evening for Preble Shawnee as Waynesville dominated the Arrows on Friday.
Waynesville ran 72 plays compared to Preble Shawnee’s 54 and was up 35-0 at the half as Preble Shawnee had trouble creating anything on offense with just 198 total yards.
Additionally, penalties took a toll as the Arrows racked up 11 for 58 yards.
Shawnee got on the scoreboard with a rushing touchdown by senior James Gibson in the third quarter.
Senior Travis Howard led the Arrows with 53 passing yards on three completions and Gibson led with 82 rushing yards on 18 carries and the aforementioned touchdown.
The Arrows will return home to take on Milton-Union on Friday, Sept. 11.
