NEXT
  Strong defense - Spencer Knopp (#50) and David Fox (#42) take down a St. Paul ball carrier in last Friday's season opener.
The O'Neill Eagles opened their 2013 season last Friday evening at St. Paul. The Eagles started the game a little rough, but the team got over their first game jitters and handed the Wildcats a very solid 21 point defeat winning 34-13. The Wildcats got their first poke at the Eagles when they got an interception with 56 seconds on the clock in the first quarter to send them up 7-0. The Wildcats eventually went up 13-0 before O'Neill's offense and defense found its legs early in the second quarter when Charlie Burtwistle took the ball in to put the Eagles within six, 13-7. Tyson Hostert got the defense rolling on an interception that put the Eagles in St. Paul territory. With 4:37 left David Fox scored the second Eagle touchdown. After the PAT the Eagles were up 14-13 at the half. The Eagles came out strong in the third quarter making key stops that eventually held St. Paul to 176 yards. The St. Paul defense ran out of gas as David Fox and Jose Lopez continued to score for the Eagles. Fox scored first to put the Eagles ahead 21-13. Jose Lopez scored to make the score 28-13 and then David Fox wrapped up the evening sealing the game with a 34-13 win. "I was very proud of our team for not hanging their heads and quitting, but rather playing harder when they got down 13-0 early in the first quarter. The first drive was a methodical 12-play drive for a 3-yard touchdown and then on our second offensive possession they picked off a pass for a 55 yard touchdown to put us in a hole early. We didn't panic and battled back stiffening up our defense and sustaining offensive drives. I thought a significant factor in the game was that we didn't get tired during the game, but actually got stronger as it went on into the second half. We had a lot of new faces step up on both sides of the ball and contribute a great deal in this game. "Defensively we held them to 176 total yards and shut them out for three quarters and only gave up one touchdown in the game. Offensively we racked up 255 yards on the ground and five touchdowns and threw for another 102 yards with five different receivers touching the ball," said Coach Eichelberger. This week the Eagles will be at home against a very tough Wayne team. "This week will be a very tough challenge for us, and we will need to bring everything we have to compete in this one," said Coach Eichelberger. Leading the offense was David Fox with three touchdowns and 17 carries for 103 yards and he averaged six yards a carry. Jose Lopez had 18 carries for 76 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Charley Burtwistle had four carries for 38 yards, 19 attempts and nine completed for 102 yards in the air and one interception. The Eagle defense was led by Robert Nordby with 12 tackles, David Fox with 12, Spencer Knopp with nine, Tyson Hostert with seven and Chance Sholes with four.
| |||||||||||||||||
