Eagles Down Blackhawks In Gridiron Shutout

 

The Holden football team remains undefeated after recording its third consecutive win in a shutout victory over Adrian by the final score of 21-0 Friday, Sept. 12.

In a defensive struggle between both teams, the Eagle defense put points on the scoreboard in the second half when linebacker Seth Wright intercepted an Adrian pass and sprinted to the end zone for a touchdown.

Holden’s offense found the end zone twice in the game with scores from twin brothers Justin Brown and Wes Brown as field position and gaining hard yards from scrimmage played a role in the contest.

“It was an incredible defensive effort,” said Holden football coach David Diener. “I have to give my defensive coaches credit. Griffin Keller, Aaron Andes, and Tylor Coulson had a great game plan and got our kids in great positions to make plays all night, and the players didn’t disappoint.

“We had some great play from our defensive line guys,” continued coach Diener. “Jack Thomas led our defensive front, and our linebacker play supported the run really well all night. All four linebackers, Eli Burnham, Tucker Wamsley, Tucker Kauffman, and Seth Wright had big plays and TFLs (tackles for loss) in big spots throughout the game.

“Jack Thomas led our defensive front as he keeps getting better understanding how our three-man front works,” highlighted coach Diener. “His effort and athleticism will keep allowing him to have big games if teams don’t account for him. He made plays tonight we knew he was capable of making, and for him to do it by week three is a huge step forward for his sophomore year and makes our defense way better.

“Then, our secondary was great with their coverages. Adrian ran some tough combinations, but our defense exchanged routes all night and made plays coming forward on wide receivers instead of chasing wide receivers.”

The game started with an early touchdown run from Justin Brown after Holden received the opening kickoff.

Brown toted the pigskin 12 yards to the end zone for the score at the 10:39 mark of the first quarter. Eagle kicker Phil Schuler tacked on the extra-point to give Holden an early 7-0 lead.

“Offensively, we knew it was going to be a tough game,” said coach Diener. “ They have fast linebackers that are quick to the football and one of the best defensive lineman we will see all year.

“We were able to jump out and get the quick touchdown on our opening drive, and did a great job most of the night moving the ball. We have to continue to get better in the red zone, but felt like we did some better things in the pass game this week.”

Holden’s 7-0 lead held through the first half as neither team found the end zone through the remainder of the first two quarters.

Adrian gained the first offensive opportunity of the second half when the Blackhawks received Schuler’s kick and made a short return, though the Blackhawks were pushed back to their own 13-yard line after being called for holding on the kickoff.

On their first play from scrimmage, Adrian aired out a pass attempt that Wright snatched out of the air from his linebacker coverage. Wright scampered 15 yards with the ball to score the pick-six with just 17 seconds ticked off the third quarter clock. Schuler put Holden ahead 14-0 on the extra-point kick.

“We knew that they were going to give us their best shot at the start of the second half to tie the football game,” said coach Diener. “On the play, the quarterback is looking to make a throw to the out route, and Justin Brown does a great job jumping it. Seth has a good read and good drop, so when the quarterback tried to back shoulder his throw to his wide receiver, he puts it right on Seth. Then, for Seth to make the run to make sure he gets in the end zone was a great effort on his part as well. Our offense was moving the ball but struggling to get points, so to get a defensive score really took some pressure off the offense.”

Holden’s third score of the game was set up by a fourth-and-four conversion on a pass from Eagle quarterback Truman Wamsley to senior wide receiver Cohen Drake late in the third quarter. A catch for six yards by Wes Brown on third down preceded Drake’s first-down catch.

Wamsley extended the drive with a quarterback keep as he stiff-armed his way to a first-down on the final play of the third period.

Wamsley’s carry left Holden at the Adrian 30-yard line when the field flipped into the start of the fourth quarter.

Wes Brown got the call on first down and delivered a 15-yard carry.

The senior running back finished off the final 15 yards by entering the end zone on his second carry to start the fourth quarter. With 11:17 left on the fourth quarter clock, Schuler set what would be the final score with his third extra-point kick of the night.

“Cohen and Wes had some big catches on our second scoring drive to move the chains and make the game out of reach by getting us the three-score lead,” said coach Diener. “ Truman keeps improving as a quarterback, and we will need him to keep playing great for our offense to get as good as we want it to be.”

After both teams swapped multiple empty possessions following Wes Brown’s touchdown, the Holden defense sealed the shutout win by defending on four straight Blackhawk pass plays with no completions for the home team.

The Eagles took possession on their own 32-yard line with 2:24 left on the clock.

Two carries by junior running back Brody Bockover, and a quarterback keep by Wamsley for a first down allowed the Eagles to line up and run the clock out in victory formation on the final two snaps of the game.

Coach Diener noted that contributions to the win were delivered in all aspects of the game for the Eagles.

“I am really proud of our guys,” said coach Diener. “Our offensive line continues to improve. They do a great job with adjustments mid-game, because they keep getting new looks each week and different looks throughout the game, and they continue to learn and improve with their blocking schemes and winning base blocks.

“Tucker Kauffman flipping the fields when we had to punt to force them to have long drives is a huge advantage for us because we feel our defense will get off the field if we make the offense snap the ball a lot to get yards,” added coach Diener. “Phil Schuler has really stepped up and taken over our kicking role. He got a touchback, but his operation on PAT has really become something we can count on and those points are crucial to football games.”

The win over Adrian puts the Holden football team’s record at 3-0 for the first time in coach Diener’s five years as head coach of the Eagles.

“I am so proud of our guys this year,” said coach Diener. “Starting 3-0 is a tremendous accomplishment with the strength of schedule that we have. I am happy that they have gotten the reward early for their hard work that they deserve, and we hope that this is just a small step to reaching our team goals that we have this year.

“I am also extremely grateful for the work of our previous teams that have established this level of physical play that is now our identity and for the persistence they gave me even though the wins early were just out of reach, but those teams always bounced back for winning records and great seasons. So we hope we can now make this start the expectation for future Holden football teams.”

On defense versus Adrian, Jack Thomas finished with a team-high 14 total tackles (10 solo, 4 assists). Tucker Wamsley totaled 12 tackles. Tucker Kauffman and Chasen Hall each had 10 tackles. Eli Burnham totaled 7 tackles. With 5 tackles each were Justin Brown, Lane Kendrick, and Owen Doogs. Seth Wright totaled 4 tackles. Jase Kinnaman, Evan Killion, Dylan Taylor, and Clayton each had 2 tackles. Jacob Roberts, Dwight Meads, and Cohen Drake each had 1 tackle. Wright had 1 interception and 1 touchdown on the interception return.

On offense, Wes Brown had a team-high 79 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 10 carries. Justin Brown had 35 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 5 carries. Truman Wamsley had 9 carries that were good for 62 total yards. Brody Bockover gained 34 yards on 11 carries. Brody Graves had 1 carry for 2 yards.
Truman Wamsley completed 9 passes for 91 total yards on 13 attempts.

Wes Brown totaled 5 catches for 65 total yards. Cohen Drake had 3 catches for 21 total yards. Bockover had 1 catch for 5 yards.

Drake handled 1 kickoff return for 10 yards. Tucker Kauffman had 3 punts for 115 total yards.

The Eagles take their 3-0 record on the road this Friday, Sept. 22 when Holden travels to St. Francis Borgia for a 7 p.m. kickoff.