EAGLES FALL TO #3 RANKED BEES 42-26 IN DISTRICT PLAY
Launch the media gallery 1 playerEagles fall to #3 ranked Bees 42-26 in district play………….
The Bloomfield Bees, ranked #3 in the state came to Allen Friday night and had to play 48 minutes of their best football to win Friday. Both teams entered the contest sporting 3-0 records.
The feisty Eagle squad played toe to toe with the behemoth squad from Bloomfield. The Bees had approximately 50 pounds per man on the front line advantage on the smaller Eagles, but the Eagle squad gave a tremendous effort, keeping the game close until the end.
Bloomfield was stifled to the point offensively that they ran one formation and play from it almost entirely all night. Meanwhile, the Bees forced the Eagles to throw the ball 36 times, something not done in recent years by an Allen squad.
Neither squad could muster anything offensively during the first period, although Allen reached the Bloomfield 15 yard line, but two penalties and a sack, led to a turnover on downs situation.
Bloomfield cracked the scoring column at the 9:39 point of the second period on a 27 yard run by Braden Eisenhauer. Seconds later, the Eagles mishandled a squib kick off, and Bloomfield converted it to a score to jump out to a 14-0 lead. Allen responded moments later when Lukas Oswald found Anthony Isom for a 2 yard touchdown pass. Just when momentum had been regained, the Bees creased the Eagle defense on a 65 yard run to re-establish their grip and the lead to 20-6.
Allen drove to the Bee 8 yard line right before half, but turned the ball over on downs.
The Eagles then came out swinging in the third period as Anthony Isom took the second play of the half 46 yards to the end zone and the game closed to 20-12. Again, Bloomfield wasted no time answering as Braden Eisenhauer finished a drive that included a big run with a 3 yard score. Bloomfield moved back out in front 28-12.
The Eagles responded a second time, as Lukas Oswald bolted 36 yards and then Kobe Kumm found Oswald on a PAT pass to close the score to 28-20 at the 9:08 mark of the period. Bloomfield again answered the Eagle challenge by scoring twice before period’s end to extend their lead to 42-20.
The Eagles scored late at the 1:28 mark, creeping back to 42-26 as Oswald ran 21 yards. A recovered onside kick allowed the Eagles to get deep in Bee territory, but an interception ended the hopes of Allen.
Defensively, the outsized Eagles, were led by Brogan Jones and Anthony Isom who racked up 22 and 20 tackles. Steven Cooks, Ryan Anderson and Nathan Oswald all had 10.
Offensively, Lukas Oswald had 85 yards on the ground and threw for 118. Ty Krommenhoek had 4 receptions for 82 yards. Isom had 53 yards on three carries, and 29 yards receiving on three catches.
The Eagles fall to 3-1 on the season, and return to district play Friday, at Hartington-Newcastle. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
COACHES COMMENTS: “The kids gave us all that they had for 48 minutes tonight. We had chances that we gave away, and we created some. The injury to Noah Carr early in the game, did change a few things for sure offensively and maybe on our defense, but all the kids stepped up and played as focused and physically as they could and the coaches could not be prouder of the effort. There are no moral victories in football. Lessons are learned and we learned a lot about who we are and the potential we have, even though we were a little short handed. Coach Kuchar of Bloomfield said, ‘they just wouldn’t go away’. We will bounce back, keep learning and playing to our ability. ”