EAGLEVILLE – Six possessions in a half can mean a number of things — both good and bad.
For Eagleville, it was bad.
The Eagles had six offensive trips in the final 24 minutes but struggled to move the ball, hold on to the ball or stop the ball in a 25-3, season-opening loss to visiting Mt. Pleasant on Friday night.
Eagleville was 0-for-8 on third down for the game — 0-for-5 in the second half — and two turnovers in the final two quarters helped turn a 6-3 game into the final margin. In between was a 78-yard touchdown pass — 65 of those yards after the catch.
“We turned the ball over. That’s the difference in the game,” Eagles coach Steve Carson said. “I’m not disappointed in our effort right now; I will have to watch the film, but right now I think our effort is there. We just didn’t execute some things, and we left some plays on the field.”
RELATED: Scores from around the state
Brenten Shepherd picked off Eagles quarterback A.J. Garza on the fourth play of the second half and ran raced 50 yards for a 12-3 lead.
Mt. Pleasant followed with another defensive stop, and needed just three plays, 80 yards and Jordan Woodson’s 65 yards after the catch for a 19-3 lead.
Eagleville got its first defensive stop of the second half when it halted an eight-play drive at its own 37 with a turnover on downs. But one play later, after what appeared to be a nice fingertip grab by Brandon Petrig, the ball was on the ground, and Bradey Gill promptly scooped it up for a 19-yard score and the final points of the night.
Mt. Pleasant opened the scoring midway through the second quarter when Jykedrin Warnsley caught a ball on the sideline that Garrett Parker narrowly missed intercepting.
Warnsley turned up field, eluded a tackle and went in for the 18-yard score.
Eagleville countered with a six-play 50-yard drive — highlighted by the Eagles’ longest play of the night, a 31-yard grab on the sideline by Weston Vallance.
The drive stalled at the 15, and Will Vermillion’s 32-yard field goal as the half expired made it a 6-3 game.
“We’ve got to be consistent moving the ball,” Carson said. “You’re not going to win many games if you’re 0-for-8 on third down. But we’re a young football team and it’s one game.”
