Despite amassing just 88 yards of offense, the East Marion Eagles nearly came away with a victory Friday night but fell short in a 24-22 road loss to Newton.
East Marion (3-8) was buoyed by two defensive touchdowns and a special teams touchdown, but the Eagles were unable to finish off drives offensively, throwing four crucial interceptions.
“The defense played lights out, but the other side not so much,” head coach Brad Hughes said.
East Marion played three quarterbacks against Newton with Demetrius Allen starting and being pulled after one series, Ja’Quarious Jones getting a shot after showing off a nice arm out of the Wildcat last week and Leon Andrews, who has been the starter most of the season, finishing off the game.
Hughes said Monday the Eagles will go with Andrews as the unquestioned starter going forward in the playoffs. Andrews completed just 1-of-9 passes against Newton for 21 yards and two interceptions, while Jones completed 3-of-8 for negative-2 yards and two picks. Allen completed his only pass attempt for 11 yards but took two crucial sacks.
“I think (Andrews) had a light switch turn on that second half so we’re going to see if it can continue,” Hughes said. “We’re still probably going to have a package with (Jones) because I like what we did out of that at times with him back there running that heavy set.”
After completing a 30-yard pass on a perfectly thrown back shoulder fade, Newton quarterback Tyreke Snow took matters into his own hands to lead the Tigers to an opening drive touchdown, scoring on a 12-yard quarterback draw. East Marion blocked the subsequent extra point to trail 6-0 just over two minutes into the game.
The Eagles had a solid drive going on their opening possession, reaching the Newton 41, but back-to-back sacks of Allen backed them back 17 yards to force a punt. However, they were able to get on the board just two plays later as Newton’s Corey Taylor couldn’t handle a handoff, and Carlos Stubbs scooped up the loose ball for East Marion and returned it 39 yards to pay dirt. Ja’Quarious Jones ran in the two-point conversion to put the Eagles up 8-6 early.
Newton got backed up into a fourth-and-26 on the ensuing drive but got bailed out by a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt. The new life paid off for the Tigers with Snow throwing a 36-yard touchdown later on the drive. Donta Newton was in coverage on the play and seemed to lose the ball in the air, leading to the easy pitch and catch that made it 14-8 late in the first quarter.
Donta Newton then fumbled on the kickoff return, gifting the ball back to Newton at the East Marion 34. The Eagles were able to force a quick three-and-out, but then was quickly forced to punt themselves. The Tigers got inside the Eagles 10 on the ensuing drive, but East Marion stiffened up to force a turnover on downs.
Yet the Eagles had to start their next drive backed up at their own 5, and on second down Ladarrius Watts was brought down in the end zone for a safety to extend Newton’s lead to 16-8. Following the kickoff that set the Tigers up at the East Marion 35 with a chance to take a commanding lead, East Marion’s defense came up with another huge play.
Ka’Ron Weary punched the ball free from a Newton receiver’s hands, and the ball landed in the hands of Kevin Johnson, who raced down the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown. The touchdown cut Newton’s lead to 16-14 with just over four minutes to play in the first half.
Newton answered right back on the first play of its ensuing drive with a 70-yard touchdown pass to the running back. East Marion was in Cover 3, and Allen, who was the cornerback to the boundary, went with the post over the middle. The running back ran a wheel route out of the backfield, and Jaidon Johnson, who was responsible for covering the flats, let him go free down the sideline, believing Allen would be there. As the corner in Cover 3 with only one receiver to his side, Allen was correct in playing the post route as Cover 3 turns into man-to-man for him in that situation. Ideally Johnson would have stayed with the wheel route, but it really was just the perfect play call against Cover 3. Neither Allen nor Johnson was wrong as they played to their pre-snap responsibilities, and it would have taken exceptional awareness to recognize the route concept. The Tigers then converted the two-point attempt to go up 24-14 going into halftime.
On Newton’s first drive of the second half, a snap hit the leg of a pulling guard and Joevarian Travis-Nixon fell on the loose ball, setting the Eagles up at the Newton 23. East Marion got down to the Newton 4 and was facing a fourth-and-3 when it drew a false start penalty. Then Jones tried to throw a jump ball in the end zone to Stubbs, but it was underthrown and intercepted.
East Marion was able to force a three-and-out and make Newton punt from deep in its own end, letting the Eagles get the ball back in Tigers territory again at the 46. But Jones was picked off again trying to throw a 50-50 ball deep down field. East Marion got another quick stop to get the ball back, but Andrews, who replaced Jones at quarterback, was intercepted trying to throw a deep ball down the sideline as the game entered the fourth quarter.
“We could’ve won that game so many different times,” Hughes said. “We just could not get it done. I don’t know if it’s a lack of focus or what, but we get in those situations and then make a critical mistake.”
After the Eagles forced a punt and got the ball at midfield, Andrews scrambled and connected with Amere Woodham for a 21-yard gain on a comeback route. On the next play, Andrews got outside the pocket again to run for 24 yards to get the Eagles down to the Newton 5. Initially the Andrews’ run was ruled a touchdown, but another official said he (correctly) stepped out. Hughes said Monday he actually thought the touchdown stood and called the next play with a two-point conversion in mind. That thought continued after a false start with Hughes still believing the Eagles had to get in the end zone. An incomplete pass, a loss of two yards and another false start led to a fourth-and-goal from the 17, and Andrews was intercepted again trying to connect with Allen in the end zone.
“I really didn’t know we didn’t score,” Hughes said. “That cost us a play. I probably would have run something different had I known at the time.”
Late in the fourth quarter with Newton backed up into a fourth-and-32, Johnson came screaming up the middle to block a punt that Watts scooped up and returned four yards for an Eagles touchdown. East Marion converted the two-point conversion to cut it to 24-22, but the Eagles couldn’t recover the onside kick as Newton kneeled out the clock.
