EATON — There haven’t been too many times this season when Eaton’s football team has been outplayed.
But in the first half of the Eagles Division IV, Region 20 quarterfinal playoff game against visiting Milton-Union on Friday, Nov. 5, that was the case, according to Eaton head coach Brad Davis.
Eaton trailed the Bulldogs 12-6 at the break after scoring a late second quarter touchdown to get back into the game.
“We just challenged them in the locker room at halftime. We weren’t playing Eaton football in the first half. They were playing harder than us. They were playing tougher than us,” Davis said. “And we made that known in the locker room and leadership took over and we got the win.”
Eaton, which is making its ninth appearance in program history in the playoffs, responded with a touchdown on its first possession of the third quarter to take a 13-12 lead, a lead which stood for the remainder of the game as the Eagles held on to advance to the regional semifinals and remain undefeated in home playoff games.
The Eagles’ defense limited Milton-Union to just 52 rushing yards and 57 total yards in the second half. The Bulldogs had 180 yard of offense in the first half, including 129 on the ground. Eaton rushed for a 154 yards in the second half and 195 for the game.
“Missed opportunities to start the game. We cannot do that, especially where we are in the season. But yeah, punching that one in (late in the second quarter) we got a little bit of that momentum back and then it was just kind of back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and we came out on top.
No. 2 seed Eaton (11-1) will take on No. 3 seed Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas (10-1) on Friday, Nov. 12 at Monroe High School. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
After two early interceptions resulted in no points for the Eagles, Milton-Union took advantage of the Eagles’ missed opportunities.
The Bulldogs scored on a 3-yard touchdown run by Blake Neumaier with 10:15 left in the second quarter.
Milton-Union then blocked an Eaton field goal attempt before marching 77 yards in just over three minutes to take a 12-0 lead with 2:24 to play in the first half.
The two missed extra-points eventually proved costly for the Bulldogs.
Eaton then drove 69 yards in six plays, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brock Ebright to Theo Winings with :41 seconds left in the half to make it a 12-6 game after the Eagles point after try failed.
Coming out of the locker room to begin the third quarter, the Eagles drove 61 yards, in eight plays, to tie the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by Chris Atkins with 8:31 to play.
The all-important extra point by Drew Michael was good to put the Eagles up 13-12.
Responding to adversity is something the Eagles have done all season, according to Davis.
“Them answering the bell. Them answering the challenge really is all it is,” Davis said. “Responding like we’ve done all year.”
Senior Aiden Williams rushed for 118 yards on 15 carries. Atkins added 90 yards on 14 attempts.
Quarterback Brock Ebright was 7-of-20 passing for 91 yards. Ebright was making his return after suffering an injury in a Week 9 win over Valley View. He split quarterbacking duties with Atkins.
“Those guys have completely different skill sets. So now it’s more just let’s try to figure out how to use their skill sets to the advantage of the team. They both contributed,” Davis said. “You know, Chris just adds that little extra with his running ability and when we need a big run we got it.”
Davis said his team needs to fix some issues before Friday’s game with McNicholas.
“We’ve been needing to clean some things up in the kicking game these last few weeks. We’ve needed to play cleaner in terms of foolish penalties and missed assignments and so forth. That’s been a focus,” Davis said. “But we’re surviving. We know that we can’t survive like this forever. Certainly, that’ll be addressed.”
Win or lose the game was going to be the final home game of the season and it’s something Davis said his coaching staff didn’t address not wanting to add pressure on the team.
“We didn’t really talk about it being the last home game,” Davis said. “I think they (the seniors) maybe did. We didn’t really want to put that in their in their minds. I think it’s more just a testament to the leadership of the team and them doing what we’ve done all year — and respond when adversity strikes.”
