Eagles fall to Panthers

Rain and storms threatened to turn the Rusk homecoming game against Spring Hill in to a soggy affair. Despite the heavy rains that were falling just a few hours before the start of the game, dedicated Eagles fans flooded the stands equipped with ponchos and umbrellas. Luckily, the powers that be understood the importance of high school football and homecoming traditions and the rain had moved out of the area by kick off.

Getting the game in motion, Rusk kicked off to Spring Hill with the Panthers gaining possession on their own 27 yard line. Over three minutes of game play, the Panthers were able to move the ball down field far enough to earn a fourth and goal position. With just eight minutes of game play left in the first quarter, Spring Hill had a successful 18 yard field goal, earning them the only points they would see for the entire first half.

Eagle No. 16 McGown received the kick off and was able to run it down to the Panther’s 48 yard line. Jaylon Hall kept the ball moving down field and into the red zone with completed passes to both McGown and No. 22 Byron Johnson, allowing for a three yard rush across the plane for an Eagle touchdown. A successful two point conversion by Johnson brought the score up to 8-3 in favor of the Eagles.

Despite efforts by both teams, neither the Eagles nor the Panthers were able to move the ball into the end zone before the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles defense held the Panthers back during the beginning of the second quarter preventing them from completing fourth down and forcing a turnover.

Despite moving the ball almost 20 yards down field, the Eagles were not able to get into field goal range and punted back to Spring Hill with nine minutes left in the first half.

The bottom half of the second quarter was all about turnovers as fumbles and interceptions kept fans on the edge of their seats.

After gaining possession of the ball, Spring Hill was able to complete a first down, but faced a turnover on the next play as a fumbled ball was recovered by Eagle No. 18 Bryce Driver.

Hall threw a 17 yard touchdown pass to McGown, and then rushed for a completed two point conversion, bringing the score up to 16-3 with seven minutes left in the second quarter.

Spring Hill was once again able to complete a first down before facing a turnover. Eagle No. 2 Semaj Johnson intercepted a Spring Hill pass, bringing possession of the ball back to Rusk.

Hall completed a 14 yard pass to No. 9 Caleb McNair, moving the ball to the Rusk 42 yard line. Unfortunately, the next play saw a fumble recovery by the Panthers and the ball once again changed possession.

With just two minutes left in the second quarter, Eagle No. 64 Jermaine Lewis broke through the Panther offensive line to sack the Panther’s quarterback.

The ball again changed possession due to downs as Spring Hill punted to Rusk with less than two minutes of game play left in the first half.

The Eagles moved the ball 25 yards down the field but were unable to make it into the end zone. An Eagle punt to Spring Hill with less than a minute left on the game clock resulted in the Panthers getting a first down before the clock ran out, calling an end to the first half and the Eagles in the lead.

The second half of game play began with Spring Hill punting to the Rusk.

During the first half of the third quarter fans saw similar game play to that of the bottom half of the second quarter, with neither team able to make it to the end zone before the ball changed possession. It wasn’t until the game clock showed six minutes left in the third quarter before anyone was able to complete a scoring play. Spring Hill managed to work the ball down field and threw six points on the board with a one yard rushing touchdown play, bringing the score up to 16-9.

The third quarter ended without another scoring play by either team.

With 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Rusk punted to Spring Hill and the Panthers were able to move the ball in to field goal range, earning them three points after a successful 20 yard field goal.

Rusk suffered a second fumble with a Spring Hill recovery, which led to a Panther touchdown and good point after, and the Panthers jumped ahead of the Eagles by three points with a score of 16-19.

Rusk was unable to find their momentum with just three minutes left to go in the quarter, failing to complete the down, allowing Spring Hill to regain control of the ball.

The final score of the game was 16-19, leaving the Eagles with a 0-4 record going into week five of regular season game play.

Rusk will travel to Henderson on Friday,Sept. 28 to take on the Lions. Henderson goes into week five with a 2-2 record and ranked 13 in Texas Division 4A-1. The Eagles and Lions average between 25-30 points per game; however, the Lions have scored the majority of their points in the fourth quarter this season, averaging 21 points in the final minutes of game play.

The next home game for Rusk will be Oct. 5 when they take on the Texas Division 4A-1 15th ranked Pittsburg Pirates. The Pirates go into week five with a 2-2 record and 29.3 average game points.