Eagles look to pull a rabbit out of the hat
Rusk playoff hopes revived after 25-15 win over Center
LELAND ACKER
LELAND ACKER

Horrace Lewis l (26) races to turn the corner on the Roughrider defense. Lewis led the Eagles' efforts in the 25- 15 win over the Center Roughriders with 17 carries for 110 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Rusk (2-7, 1-3) faces the Crockett Bulldogs for the third and final playoff spot from District 20-3A. PHOTO: LYNN LITTLEJOHN

CENTER - After going 1-7 and being outscored 389-130 in the first eight games of the season, the Rusk Eagles needed one of those games where the ball bounced right more That victory came against the Center Roughriders Friday as the Eagles won 25-15.

The win not only helps restore confidence to a team tattered by losses and fan disillusionment, but revives playoff hopes as well.

The Eagles (1-3, tied for fourth in District 20-3A) conclude the regular season against the Crockett Bulldogs (2-2, third in District 20-3A) at Eagle Stadium Friday. Should the Eagles beat Crockett, and Center beat Huntington, Rusk would advance to the playoffs. Should the Eagles win and Huntington defeat Center, Rusk, Crockett and Huntington would be in a three-way tie for third with the playoff spot being determined by a points-spread system. Should Rusk lose, Crockett advances to the playoffs and the Eagles' season is over.

"It feels really good," said Head Coach Wayne Mahaffey. "We played very well and hard. We did some things we haven't been doing. We had better concentration and effort."

Coach Mahaffey said the Eagles played a lot better on defense, with the players executing their assignments better than previous weeks.

That execution was evident as the Eagles made two interceptions and forced three fumbles.

Horrace Lewis made the first interception on the third play of the game. Rusk capitalized with a 32-yard Patrick Rodgers field goal.

Four plays later, Reggie Dickson recovered a fumble setting up a Lewis six yard touchdown run.

The Eagles extended the lead to 12 with a 27-yard field goal by Ricky Rojo with 7:33 left to play in the second quarter.

Rusk switched quarterbacks at halftime, as Michael Katon suffered a finger injury. Demarcus Skinner took over the signal calling duties, leading the Eagle offense to 13 more points in the second half.

Skinner went 2-3-1 in the air, with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jared Colville with 7:32 left in the game. Colville went on to finish the game by intercepting a pass in the end zone with :30 left in the game.

Rusk will try to salvage their playoff streak at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Eagle Stadium against Crockett.

To make a correction to last week's story, I reported that J.J. Session returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. In reality, it was Horrace Lewis who returned the kick for the touchdown. I apologize for that error.
Game Stats
SCORING BY QUARTER

Rusk Eagles at Center Roughriders
Rusk	9	3	6	7	--	25
Center	0	0	7	8	--	15

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
RUSK - Patrick Rodgers 32 yd FG 5:46
RUSK - Horrace Lewis 6 yd run (kick
failed) 1:02
Second Quarter
RUSK - Ricky Rojo 27 yd FG 7:33
Third Quarter
CENTER - Trenton Patton 1 yd run (Grant
Belrose kick) 2:33
RUSK - Lewis 2 yd run (kick failed) 1:10
Fourth Quarter
CENTER - Jaelyn Short 2 yd run (Patton
run) 11:22
RUSK - Demarcus Skinner 29 yd pass to
Jared Colville (Rojo kick) 7:32

	Rusk	Center
First downs	10	10
Rushes/yds	37-179	30-83
Passing yds	77	128
C/A/I	5-12-1	5-14-2
Total Yardage	256	211
Fumbles/lost	2-0	4-3
Punts/avg	2-29	1-33
Penalties/yds	7-35	1-15
Time of Poss.	25:28	22:32

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Rusk: Lewis 17-110, Michael Katon 9-41, Skinner 10-28. Center: Trenton Patton 24-65, Alderra Berry 2-8, Short 3-3, Leneiman Kennedy 1-1. PASSING - Rusk: Katon 3-9-0 42, Skinner 2-3-1 35. Center: Short 6-14-2 128. RECEIVING - J.J. Session 1-11, Skinner 1-6, Cody Daniel 1-25, Trent Vaught 1-6, Colville 1-29. Center: Patton 5-128. INTERCEPTIONS - Rusk: Lewis 1, Colville 1. Center: Eddie Edwards 1.