Eagle Valley takes momentum and runs with it

Eagle Valley had seen the situation before, but from the other side.

Last week against a hard-running Rifle squad, the Devils stuffed the Bears' Tyler Thompson on fourth-and-1, but thanks to a generous spot, but Bears picked up a first down and went on to win the game, 21-14.

Friday against Battle Mountain, the Devils were on their own 39-yard line, holding a 14-10 lead, when they decided to go for it on fourth-and-1.

"That was kind of a gutsy one, but I knew we could get a yard," said Eagle Valley coach John Ramunno.

Eagle Valley quarterback Mike Medsker handed off to fullback Brendan Best, who got some great blocking and barreled his way for a first down.

"That was a big, big play for them," said Battle Mountain coach Pat Engle. "I think they went with an unbalanced line there. It was almost like a lead dive, basically like a an outside veer look. Good for them. That was well-scouted. We hadn't seen that look on film or on anything. They ran a nice football play there and certainly walled us off. That was a really big play."

On the next play, Devils' wingback Nick Whitehead broke free for a huge gain, setting up a first-and-goal. Three plays later, Whitehead pounded the ball to extended the his team's lead by two scores.

"We were fired up," Medsker of the fourth-down conversion. "We wanted to make sure we'd get it. We felt like (after) we had control of the game. We started moving the ball. We wanted to keep things going our way."

Big defense

All game, whenever the Huskies looked to gain momentum, Eagle Valley came up huge on defensive third and fourth downs.

After Battle Mountain tied the game at 7-7 and recovered an onside kick, they picked up a big first down and moved into the Devils' red zone. But on fourth-and-2 from the 20, the Devils' defensive line rammed into the Huskies' backfield and the Devils' linebackers came with them for the stop.

On Battle Mountain's first drive in the second half, the Devils forced a fourth-and-6, and stopped Huskies' running back Ryan Hedrick short of a first down. A facemask penalty gave the Huskies a first-and-goal from the 6.

On first down, Devils' linebacker Pena Wosley took down Huskies' quarterback Jeremy Windham on a naked bootleg. Wosley teamed up with defensive end Alex Dorothy to bring down Hedrick for no gain on the following play, and on third down, Dorothy was in position to take out a slipping Hedrick. The Huskies settled for a Derek Byron field goal, and cut the Devils' lead to 14-10.

"We talked about those front guys, those defensive line guys had to get up and get a piece Hedrick," Ramunno said. "We were trying to hold their line up so our backers could get in. Nick (Whitehead), Breandan (Best), Pena (Wosley) and Danner (Bartlett) all had big days because of that."

Wosley led the team with 13 tackles, followed by Dorothy (12), Best (11), Kyle Green (10), Kevin Mansfield (10), Bartlett (9) and Whitehead (9). Jason Mirelez and Wosley combined for a sack.

"Our defensive line just shut down holes, and let linebackers come through," Wosley said.

Eagle Valley held Battle Mountain to 1-for-4 on fourth down and 3-for-10 on third down.

For Battle Mountain, linebacker Levi Horn took down a slew of Devils' rushers with a team-high 12 tackles. Jamie Hijmans and Bart Clark each had 11 tackles, while Travis Roach picked up nine.

An extra kick

All season, the Devils have had issues with extra points. But Friday, Eagle Valley was flawless. Freshman Manuel Holguin split the uprights on all five touchdowns.

"There were great snaps and great holds," said Holguin, who played three years of soccer.

The first extra point put the Devils up 7-0.

"It was huge - it made me feel really good," Holguin said. "I wasn't nervous. There was nobody out there. Just me and the holder."

Ramunno couldn't be happier to have found a great leg

"He's a good little kicker, and thank God we got him for three more years," Ramunno said.

Byron came up huge for his team, also. Late in the first quarter, Byron tapped a perfect onside kick that teammate Todd Walker gobbled up before any Eagle Valley player could touch. Byron nailed a 27-yard field goal and then squibbed another onside kick his team recovered in the fourth quarter when the Devils were expecting it.

Battle Mountain was flagged six times for 28 yards, while Eagle Valley had five penalties for 30 yards.

In a first half that saw time-consuming drives eat up the clock, both teams had four drives.

Sports Writer Ian Cropp can be reached at 748-2935 or icropp@vaildaily.com.



Vail, Colorado