Gridiron Eagles Surge Past Raiders In Second Half

In a back-and-forth game against Pembroke Hill, the Holden football team defended its home turf by defeating the visiting Raiders in the final score of 34-18 on Friday, Sept. 5.

Advantages due to adjustments made in the third and fourth quarters of the game tipped the contest in Holden’s favor after the two teams played to a 7-6 halftime score with the Eagles holding the one-point lead at intermission.

“I’m just so proud of the kids sticking with it, the adjustments we were able to make, my assistant coaches were absolutely incredible, as well, with their suggestions and views,” said Holden football coach David Diener. “It’s just all coming together at the right time, and I’m extremely proud of our kids and how hard they played. We’ve been waiting for that opportunity. We really felt like this was an early playoff game simulation, and our kids came up and stuck with it.

We hope we can carry that momentum into next week against a tough opponent next week.”

The turning point in the game for the Eagles was delivered by the only pass completion of the game for Holden when senior wide receiver Cohen Drake hauled in a 42-yard catch on a pass that was delivered by the arm of sophomore quarterback Truman Wamsley.

The pass completion turned a third-and-12 situation from inside Holden’s own 10-yard line into a scoring drive that ended with junior running back Brody Bockover carrying for a 20-yard touchdown run.

Eagle kicker Phil Schuler tacked on the extra-point to give Holden both a 14-6 advantage on the scoreboard, and momentum in the final quarter and a half of the game.

“This is a tough match-up for Cohen Drake,” said coach Diener. “We knew we could get him on the double move. When we’re backed up third-and-long, that was the game. His play was the absolute game, and I am so proud that he stuck with it. When he got his opportunity, both he and Truman didn’t miss.

“It’s a tough match-up,” continued coach Diener. “They had two big athletic corners. We knew they were going to jump the back route. We faked it, went vertical, and I mean for us to put that in on the fly and ad-lib and those two guys can make that play, that’s the whole game because that switches the momentum. We were going to have to punt from back inside there, and it’s a 7-6 game at that point. That allows us to get up two scores, and even though we let them back in it, ultimately, that kept the momentum on our side for the third quarter.”

Pembroke Hill found the scoreboard first in the game on a 30-yard touchdown pass. An errant extra-point kick left the score at 6-0 for the Raiders at the 4:35 mark of the opening period.

Wamsley put Holden ahead 7-6 on a 10-yard quarterback keep carry with just under six minutes to play in the first half.
On Pembroke Hill’s next possession, Eagle senior linebacker Tucker Kauffman intercepted a Pembroke pass deep in Raider territory.

Holden failed to convert the turnover into points, but the interception and four following goal-to-go plays run by the Holden offense left the Raiders pinned deep in their own territory for the remainder of the first half.

“We really want to finish that in the end zone, but it just takes time away from them with the ball,” said coach Diener. “We were able to kill more time on the clock with that drive, even though it stalls out. Those are learning plays, learning opportunities that we’re going to cash in on those opportunities in the future because of that situation. We learned a lot from those plays down at the goal line. It paid off for us down at the stretch.”

Pembroke Hill responded to Bockover’s third-quarter 20-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keep that was followed by a failed two-point conversion.

That touchdown and failed PAT left the score at 14-12 to start the fourth period.

The Raiders regained the lead in the fourth quarter on a 34-yard touchdown pass. With the failed extra-point kick, Pembroke led 18-14.

On Holden’s next possession, senior running back Wes Brown broke for a 41-yard touchdown run that put Holden back in the lead with the score at 20-18.

A failed drive by Pembroke Hill that ended on an incomplete pass on a fourth-and-two play set the Holden offense up on the 40-yard line of Pembroke’s side of the field.

Bockover carried the ball three straight times on Holden’s ensuing drive. He ended his third carry by crossing the goal line for a 26-yard touchdown run. Schuler’s PAT kick put Holden ahead 27-18.

“I’m just so proud of our blocking backs. Our kids that stuck with it,” said coach Diener. “We have so many mouths to feed on the offensive backfield. Truman deserves carries. Wes deserves carries. Brody just demands carries, and for us to put that crew as many different ways with Justin (Brown) coming into help us, then, for us to be able to throw the ball to Cohen when we needed that was awesome.”

Bockover’s extra work load on the night was opened up by senior linebacker Seth Wright adding more snaps on the offensive side of the pigskin.

“After the first game, our offensive game plan what Crest Ridge did, we knew we needed to get Brody some carries, and to do that, we had to have Seth play more,” said coach Diener. “Seth iron-manned it, played a lot of fullback and stuff for us, and when we did that, that allowed Brody to get more I-back carries and other carries in situations. Seth coming to help us offensively was a big part of our offense.”

Holden’s defense held Pembroke Hill on the Raiders’ drive following Bockover’s touchdown. A hook-and-lateral play on fourth-and-26 by the Raiders on the drive gained no yardage to return the ball to Holden.

Wamsley put the final touchdown on the scoreboard on a keep from eight yards out. Schuler set the final score at 34-18 with the PAT kick.

“We knew they were going to come out quick,” said coach Diener. “I’m so proud of how our kids stuck to our game plan. We wanted to try to hit some big things early, but ultimately, the main thing was to establish the line of scrimmage.

“I’ve got to shout out to our defense,” added coach Diener. “Our defense played absolutely outstanding. They threw in things that we hadn’t seen. We knew they could run it, and our guys, we put in some adjustments at halftime. We were able to make it so we took that away from them, and they had to go back to the spread look. Then, our secondary played outstanding.”

Holden totaled 392 yards of total offense.

Bockover finished with a team-high 158 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries.

Wamsley had 2 touchdowns and 68 yards on 9 carries.

Wes Brown had 1 touchdown and 92 yards on 18 carries.

Justin Brown carried the ball 4 times for 32 yards.

Drake caught Wamsley’s one pass completion out of five attempts on the night for 42 yards.

On defense, Chasen Hall had a team-high 14 tackles (7 solo, 7 assists). Owen Doogs 12 total tackles. Tucker Wamsley totaled 9 tackles. Kauffman, Jack Thomas, and Eli Burnham each finished with 8 tackles. Wright had 7 tackles. Justin Brown and Bockover each had 3 tackles. Lane Kendrick totaled 2 tackles, and players with 1 tackle each were Jase Kinnaman, Kaden Gibson, Jacob Roberts, Dylan Taylor, and Clayton Sullivan.

Following the win over Pembroke Hill, the Holden football team holds a record of 2-0 with no MRVC-East games played to date.
The Holden football team travels to Adrian this Friday, Sept. 12. Game time is 7 p.m.