EATON — For the first time this season, Eaton’s football team played what head coach Brad Davis called a complete game from start to finish.
The Eagles held Oakwood to minus-7 yards rushing and just 95 yards for the game on its way to a convincing 34-0 win on Friday, Sept. 27.
The win for the Eagles was the first this season after a few close calls.
“It feels pretty good,” Davis said of the win. “Coming into this week (we knew) were a pretty good football team at times and we’ve played some pretty good football teams.”
He said the focus during the week was to put together a solid 48 minutes.
“Really, the focus was to put four quarters together. Just play four quarters. Put four quarters together and whatever happens, happens. Because we hadn’t done that yet. We’ve been inconsistent at times,” he said. “So that was really the kind of focus. I think for the most part, the third quarter wasn’t great, but pretty pleased with the result.”
Eaton scored 21 first-quarter points to seize control early.
Senior Zac Schmidt to the scoring started returning a punt 35 yards for a touchdown with 5:30 to play in the first quarter.
He followed with a 20-yard interception return for a score on Oakwood’s next possession to give Eaton a 14-0 lead with 4:38 remaining in the opening quarter.
“That was a pretty big shot in the arm. You never really expect to have those and when you get them back-to-back that’s pretty good shot in the arm. It was a big confidence boost,” Davis said.
Senior Jarod Lee added the Eagles third score of the first quarter on a 24-yard run with 1:00 remaining.
Lee added a 2-yard TD run with 5:04 left in the half to give Eaton a 27-0 lead.
Schmidt rounded out the scoring with a 24-yard TD run with 11:22 to play in the game for a 34-0 lead.
“We grew up tonight and learned how to put a team away. I think we did that for the most part,” Davis said. “I’m pretty proud of the defense.”
Eaton rushed for 238 yards with Lee getting the majority of the yards, with 166. Schmidt finished with 52.
Eaton, now 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the SWBL, is scheduled to host Monroe on Friday, Oct. 4 for Homecoming.
