East Marion (4-5, 2-2) had multiple opportunities to knock off Stringer (9-1, 4-0), the top team in Region 4-1A, but five turnovers doomed the Eagles in a 30-18 home loss Friday night.
Head coach Kevin Jackson said the two areas that consistently plague the Eagles — turnovers and poor tackling — can only be corrected by working on execution in practice.
“That’s all we can do. We should’ve got rid of the ball, but we tried to force some things and unfortunately had some turnovers. We have to correct that and make sure we get rid of the ball and not take any sacks or throw turnovers,” he said. “(Defensively) we just have to tackle.”
While missing out on an opportunity to position themselves in the hunt for a district title stings for the Eagles, they only require one more district win to clinch a playoff berth. They will get their first crack at it Friday night at Mount Olive (1-9, 1-4), which has been outscored by 220 points this season. Jackson said it’s a huge deal to take care of business against the Pirates.
“The ultimate goal is always to make the playoffs and to win a state championship, so we need to get a win to make sure we get in the playoffs,” he said.
Against the Red Devils Friday night, Wanya Cook got the Eagles started right out of the gate with a 34-yard run setting up quarterback Devin Daniels scampering into the end zone from three yards out. The Eagles were stuffed on the 2-point conversion but held a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Stringer answered right back, though, after recovering an onside kick attempt by East Marion. Red Devils running back Anthony Thomas, who ran for 227 yards in the game, had runs of 10-plus yards on their first four plays before scoring a 3-yard touchdown on the fifth. Stringer took the lead on the PAT and received a gift-wrapped present from the Eagles on the ensuing drive.
East Marion marched down to the Stringer 7, but a holding a call on 3rd-and-1 preceded Daniels dropping a knee-high shotgun snap that was recovered by Stringer, which was the first of two red-zone turnovers by the Eagles offense.
The Red Devils added onto their lead in the second quarter as RJ Holifield powered into the end zone, and Hunter Burkeen drilled a 27-yard field goal on consecutive possessions to make it 17-6. East Marion’s defense stepped up after another turnover by the offense and gave the Eagles one last shot to make something happen with less than a minute to go in the first half.
Daniels made the most of that shot, bursting through the line on a quarterback draw before reversing field and racing 88 yards untouched for a touchdown with only 29 seconds on the clock. The 2-point try was unsuccessful, but the Eagles went into halftime down just 17-12.
Stringer put together a long drive coming out of intermission, which was capped off by a powerful 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cayleb Dyess to put the Red Devils up 24-12. East Marion then turned it over again as Daniels was trying to connect with Jacob Johnson on a quick curl from the slot — one of the Eagles’ money plays — but Dyess jumped the route and intercepted it. Dyess then hit Devin May for a 15-yard score to make it 30-12 late in the third quarter.
However, a long return by Kevin Johnson jumpstarted the Eagles and gave them the ball at the Stringer 37 to start the ensuing drive. The Eagles nearly had a touchdown on a 4th-and-14 deep ball to Flenard McLin in the end zone, but McLin was interfered with to give East Marion a new set of downs. Cook only needed one down, though, as he found a big hole and ran into the end zone for a 13-yard score. The Eagles failed to make the conversion for the third time but were back in the game.
The defense began to step up as well, forcing a punt to set up the most important sequence of the game. Daniels hit McLin in stride on a crossing route, and McLin broke a tackle and raced down the sideline for 63 yards to set up 1st-and-goal. But the turnover bug reared its ugly head again. On second down Daniels tried to scramble away from pressure but was wrapped up for a sack. Rather than taking the sack, though, he threw it just before hitting the ground, and the pass caromed off an offensive lineman and into the hands of the Red Devils.
Jackson said he liked the way the defense adjusted late, but the turnovers were too costly to overcome.
“We did,” he said of tackling better in the second half. “We held them in check for the most part. But turnovers, we had some bad turnovers. We had a chance to score right there in the middle of the fourth quarter and didn’t. That was big because if we get points there, we’re down by six. We kept them out of them end zone one time before the half to give them three, so the defense played pretty good. Just have to work on making tackles.”
The Eagles had a desperation attempt with under two minutes to play after forcing another punt, but McLin was intercepted on a double pass before Stringer ran out the clock.
Pictured Above: East Marion's Devin Daniels attempts to elude a defender wih a stiff arm. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
