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Eagles Blinded By Mary Star’s Shining Light |
The Eagles are the team to beat in the Frosh/Soph division. They were beat by a Catholic school by the name of Mary Star. The Eagles could have settled for a tie, but the old saying, "You go for the win at home and go for the tie on the road" held them from kicking the extra point. Late in the fourth quarter, with Mary Star in possession, sophomore Austin Pruden forced a fumble with fellow sophomore Bryan Yatabe recovering, making it first and ten Eagles. On the same drive, running back Andrew Adam scored while facing fourth and one on the goal line, with 5:51 left on the clock. Austin Pruden suffered a separated shoulder late in the second half of the game. Austin would not return to the game and his return to the squad is no more than two weeks, but he would rather be back this week for the away game at Malibu.
Freshman guard Alex Basany says, "The players need to concentrate more on the game than anything else on the field." Basany thinks his team can manage without Austin for two weeks, but wishes he were on the squad now. Sophomore Jon Nichols and co-captain Jesse Wood state, "This team needs to pass much more." Although the passing game was strong, the running game wasn't anything spectacular. The running needs to be improved and better before entering the next game the sophomores state. The offensive line will be changed dramatically because of the limited passing protection given to quarterback Tyson Hawley. The strategy of the Eagles game play will also be changed before the next game. The new strategy will be to pass the ball more, run less, and more trick plays on running instead of draws up the middle. This will help El Segundo dramatically.
This was not a high scoring game. It was the defense that carried both teams to the end. Mary Star scored the first touchdown in the third quarter off of a running play by their star player number 23. The first turnover for the Eagles came by Austin Pruden when he forced a fumble late in the fourth quarter, which led to El Segundo's only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter with Andrew Adam scoring the first touchdown of the year.
El Segundo must pick up the offense a bit more if they hope to become champions. There was no flaw on offense except for offensive line, which couldn't hold Mary Star's defense long enough for Tyson Hawley to find an open receiver. If the Eagles defense can stay the same throughout the season, they will be in good shape. The defense was solid in the season opener. The defense may be the strongest link in the chain. There is no "weak link" in the chain of the Eagles. The offense just wasn't concentrating enough on their own side. The offense needs to stay focused and not let one play take them down, instead, they should forget it, learn from their mistake and be ready for the next play. This game is now in the past. There are still nine more games left to play.