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Eagles claw past Blackcats
NMCC advances to quarterfinals with convincing win
NEW MADRID -- The football season rolls on for the New Madrid County Central Eagles, as they advanced to quarterfinal game on Monday by defeating the Fredericktown Blackcats Wednesday night 30-20.
After electing to decline the toss, and receive in the second half, the Eagles forced Fredericktown to go three downs and out, and quickly started up their offensive attack.
On just their third play from scrimmage in the contest, at 9:10, quarterback Dontre Jenkins connected with Kony Ealy for 47 yards, who was tackled just a half yard short of the touchdown. Lennies McFerren took care of the rest, rumbling in for one yard and the first score of the game.
Jenkins attempted to pass on the extra point but was unsuccessful, as the Eagles went 0-5 in point after attempts in the game.
The Blackcats clawed their way back into the game just a few minutes later at 4:57, when their standout running back Ryan Sawyer rushed in from seven yards out, followed by a blocked kick from Mike Crowell on the point after attempt.
The start of the second quarter didn't bring good news for Fredericktown, or their quarterback Nathan Wilkerson, who was sacked on the very first play in the quarter resulting in a fumble which the Eagles recovered.
NMCC jumped on the opportunity and put up a quick score at 10:53 from Bryan Waters from one yard out. After the unsuccessful point after, the score was 12-6 in favor of the home team.
Justin Beasley added one more score before the half, with just 21 seconds remaining on the clock from 12 yards out. Jenkins run failed on the extra point attempt, and at half time the Eagles went to the locker room with the lead 18-6.
Things didn't get any easier for Wilkerson and the Blackcats, as the very first play from scrimmage in the second half started with a huge hit to the Wilkerson, resulting in another fumble, and when the pile-up was cleared, possession changed hands to NMCC's favor.
The Eagles took the chance given to them, and McFerren stormed down the field for his second touchdown of the game, 23 yards for the score at 10:11 in the third. Bryan Waters was stopped short on his run attempt for the two-
point conversion.
"We did a good job running the football," NMCC head coach Arlen Pixley said. "We saw them do a few things that they had a problem with in the passing game, and we exploited that early and really backed them out of the box on us."
"It opened up the inside," he added. "And we did a good job hitting it up in there."
NMCC held the Blackcats scoreless two straight quarters heading into the fourth with the lead 24-6.
The Eagles started out the fourth quarter with a bang as well, when Dijuan Waters barreled in for a six yard touchdown at 9:45, followed by another unsuccessful point after try on a Jenkins pass.
"Number 54 for them (Adam Daniels) was giving us some fits," Pixley said. "He was doing a little stunting in there and we contained him really well in the second half. He really wasn't a factor on defense any more."
Fredericktown tried to scratch their way back into the game with two scores late, but it wouldn't be enough for victory, but made the score look closer than the game could've been.
"I wasn't pleased how we played down the stretch there," Pixley said. "But, I think our kids kind of said this one's in the bag and that cost us."
What it cost, was a five yard touchdown run from Sawyer at 6:15, followed by a Wilkerson failed pass attempt for the two-point conversion, and another score with 14 seconds left, on a little bit of trickery, when Wilkerson handed off to Sawyer, who then turned and threw a 20 yard touchdown pass to Wilkerson in the corner of the endzone. Sawyer took it in for the two-point conversion, but the scoring came to a halt there for the Blackcats, and so did the season, as the 14 seconds left on the clock ran out and the Eagles continued their season until Monday night.
"Our defense stepped up and bowed their necks and played extremely well," Pixley said.
One highlight reel Wednesday night could have been dedicated to the play of Dijuan Waters, who had four carries for 40 yards and touchdown run, but his stellar play came on the other side of the ball. On defense he was a part of a lot of plays, including one interception that he caught and several big hits that he delivered.
"You can talk about Dijuan (Waters) on offense picking up big first downs," Pixley said. "But, more importantly, about him, he stepped it up on defense."
"You know, him and (Sedrick) Hemphill have played extremely well for us the last four or five weeks," he added. "And Dijuan has gotten better every week. He made some great tackles there and totally shut them down, not single-
handedly, the other guys were doing their jobs too, but he was the cog right there in the machine."
On offense, the Eagles were lead by McFerren, who had 127 yards rushing on 20 carries with two touchdowns.
Jenkins had five completions on 11 attempts for 78 yards, including the 47 yard pass that set up the first score of the game for the Eagles.
Ealy had two receptions for 56 yards.
McFerren said that this win was a big one, and that he and his teammates are excited to keep playing football.
NMCC had 354 yards of total offense, 276 of it coming on the ground, while Fredericktown had 318 yards with 242 coming on run plays.
The Blackcats were lead by Sawyer, who carried the ball 37 times for 207 yards, and Wilkerson, who was 9-for-16 passing with one interception and 76 yards in the air.
NMCC will continue in their push towards a state title berth, starting Monday night with a match-up against MICDS in the St. Louis area. The game location has not yet been determined.