PREBLE COUNTY — National Trail lost its first game of the season and Twin Valley South remains winless while Preble Shawnee and Eaton both dropped to 1-2 this week.
Eaton (1-2) takes Monroe down to wire in 30-23 loss
The Eagles fell to 1-2 on the year after dropping a closely contested game to Monroe on Friday, Sept. 11.
Eaton began the game with touchdown pass on the opening drive from senior Dawson Blaylock to junior Josh Martin on 4th down, but a missed extra point made it 6-0.
Eagles junior Christian Reyna forced a bad pitch on Monroe’s first drive, resulting in a fumble recovered by junior Ashton Geoit inside the 15.
Eaton coach Brad Davis said senior Trevor Long had the opportunity for scoop and score but couldn’t bring it in, and the Eagles later settled for a field goal to make it 9-0.
On Monroe’s next drive, the Hornets had a quarterback run that went for 70 yards and a touchdown, breaking the tackles of four Eagles on the play, to make it 9-7.
After three consecutive punts, a turnover on downs by Monroe and three more punts, the Hornets took a 14-9 lead on a 60-yard rushing TD on third-and-8, where Monroe broke four more Eaton tackles.
Looking to respond, the Eagles drove into Monroe territory, but an interception gave the ball right back to the Hornets.
On the final drive before the half, Monroe moved 65 yards in three plays, breaking seven more Eaton tackles, to eventually find the end zone and increase their lead, 21-9.
Beginning the second half, the Hornets embarked on a time-killing 15 play drive that chewed up most of the third quarter, though it ended with just a field goal, making it 24-9.
Eaton worked its way into Monroe territory again, moving inside the 10-yard line, but a turnover on downs ended the promising drive.
However, on Monroe’s next drive, a forced fumble by Eaton senior Carson Shafer led to a scoop and score TD by Martin to make it 24-16.
Once they had the ball back, Monroe’s QB broke free on another long TD run, this one 60 yards, and a missed extra point made it 30-16.
Eaton responded with another touchdown drive, finishing with a receiving TD by Long to make it 30-23, which Davis said had good connections between Blaylock and his receivers.
After a punt by the Hornets, the Eagles had a chance for a game-tying drive at their own 42-yard line with under four minutes remaining.
A big catch by Martin flipped the field for the Eagles and got them into the red zone, and a later conversion on fourth-and-5, again to Martin, gave the Eagles a fresh set of downs at Monroe’s 5-yard line.
Despite the opportunity, Eaton was not able to find the end zone, and the game ended as the Eagles turned the ball over on downs.
“Too many missed opportunities, too many missed tackles to win the game,” Davis said. “We showed some toughness and some grit down the stretch but it wasn’t quite enough. We had dug ourselves in too deep of a hole. Credit to Monroe, they made more plays than we did and won the game.”
After two weeks on the road, the Eagles will return home to take on Bellbrook on Friday, Sept. 18.
National Trail (2-1) drops first game to Tri-Village 34-19
The Blazers dropped their first game of the season this past weekend to Tri-Village.
Senior Jacob Ray led the Blazers on the ground with 97 yards on 20 carries.
Senior Dallas Smith completed 10 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown while throwing three interceptions. On the ground, he added 68 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
Senior Tyler Weathington hauled in four catches for 61 yards, and junior Garrett Jones caught two passes for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, junior Ethan Wilson led the Blazers with 13 tackles and one sack.
Junior Jonathon Mclane had 10 tackles and senior Clay Stiner had nine.
Senior Sharvezz Carter, sophomore Jordan Heck, senior Kole Glander and senior Zack Horn all had half a sack.
Carter also had one interception.
Next up for the Blazers is Arcanum, who Trail will host on Friday.
Preble Shawnee (1-2) blanked by Franklin 28-0
Despite besting the Wildcats in a number of statistics including total plays and first downs, the Arrows were shut out by Franklin on Friday.
Offensively, Shawnee struggled to get anything going with just 43 total yards on the evening, 42 of which came on the ground on 41 carries, good for just over one yard per carry.
Senior James Gibson led the Arrows with 42 yards on 19 carries, but 27 yards were lost by various players, resulting in the low total yards.
Sophomore Cooper Roell and junior Hunter Crockett led Shawnee with eight tackles each, and sophomores Brayden Doran and Zane Adams each had a sack.
Sophomore Grady Hutchinson and Gibson each had an interception while sophomore Sayge Stephenson had two passes defended.
Looking to even up their record, Shawnee will host Milton-Union on Friday.
Twin Valley South (0-3) suffers 40-7 loss to Covington
The Panthers fell to 0-3 on the season as the Covington Buccaneers visited this past weekend and took home a 40-7 win over Twin Valley South.
South will head back on the road this week to take on Bethel on Friday.
