By Kendall Patterson
Staff Writer
Last Friday night, the Chester County Eagles played against the Fayette-Ware Wildcats.
Though Chester County put a lot of points on the scoreboard, Fayette-Ware still managed to put up more.
At first, during the first half, the Eagles put themselves in a 0-12 hole.
They were able to force the Wildcats in a punting situation while the score was 6-0; however, once they got the ball back, a tipped pass was intercepted. The Eagles forced a fumble following the interception, but was not able to recover it.
Then, the wildcats scored after multiple runs.
At the end of the second quarter, the Eagles managed to score after Tyriucus Anderson caught a pass from quarterback Tony Washington for an Eagles touchdown.
During the first drive after halftime with the score 20-6, Washington ran about half the field for a touchdown.
After forcing another punt, the Eagles kept up the momentum. Washington found Samuel Hannis (#5) open, and he ran it in for the touchdown. With the score 20-18, the Eagles decided they had to go for two but were not successful. Nontheless, after another stop by the defense, Washington made a deep pass to Landon Crabtree that barely misses the touchdown after going out of bounds at the one yard line. It was the moment of the night for the Eagles and their fans.
The Eagles then got the yard to start leading 24-20 and got the two-point conversion as well; score now 26-20.
After tying it at 26 then getting the two-point conversion, the Wildcats stopped the Eagles and followed it up with another touchdown which made the Eagles down 36-26 with about 1:30 left in the ball game.
The Eagles were able to score again, but not enough to come back.
The final was 36-32.
Eagles Head Coach Steve Robinson, though it was progress from last year, was not impressed. He said the team should have played the first half like they did the second half.
“We have to find a way to come out fast, to come out aggressive. That first half, especially the first quarter, we found ourselves just trying to feel our way through the ball game. We weren’t reacting, weren’t playing weren’t blocking really well. We can’t sit back and be passive,” he said. “The second half we played much better. I thought we played with more intensity, but like I told them, we can’t play catch up. You got to play four quarters. You can’t wait until the second half.”
Robinson mentioned how the Eagles play designs are good, the team just has to make the plays.
Our concepts are good. The routes that Coach [DJ] Sheets called tonight and the plays, they were there, but we have to make the play.”
It’s no surprise the Eagles coaching staff chose Washington as the Player of the Game with the plays he made during his first game as an Eagle.
He averaged at about 10.5 yards per throw with a total of 157 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Though he threw the pick, he made up for it in rushing yards. During the game, he was also the leading rusher with a total of 141 yards gained and one touchdown.
I thought Tony did a pretty good job throwing the ball tonight,” Robinson said after the game. “I thought his accuracy was on spot for the most part and he kept his eyes downfield in the second half.”
This Friday, the Eagles face-off against Jackson Christian.
The Eagles stadium will be limited to 1,000 people due to the coronavirus pandemic, so those who want to watch the game, you should get there as soon as the gates open at 5:45 p.m.
Out of 1,000 tickets, as of Friday, 200 season tickets were sold, and up to an additional 200 season possibly will be sold, according to Athletic Director Brandon Pipkin. Some of the 1,000 tickets will be saved for the away fans as well.
He followed with saying that the best way to be guaranteed a ticket is to buy season tickets. Contact Pipkin, Coach Robinson or Zach Hannis for season tickets.
