Prep Football: Slipped Away
With each possession at a premium, Eldorado gassed out late in the fourth quarter Saturday, putting an end to their season with a 41-34 loss at home to Maroa-Forsyth in the second round of the IHSA Class 2A Playoffs.
Eldorado stood toe-to-toe with the Trojans, trading touchdowns, until late in the game when Eldorado turned the ball over on downs inside their own territory, resulting in the go-ahead score for Maroa-Forsyth and then on the Eagles' next possession, fumbled just outside the red zone, which led to the Trojans running out the clock.
Eldorado head coach Brandon Hampton credited his kids for fighting until the play clock hit zero.
"We had a few opportunities to make some plays, where we had them defended pretty well and they came away with some of those balls," Hampton said. "It came down to the very end. We had an opportunity and we weren't able to convert and we turned the ball over and you can't do that in the second round of the playoffs.
"A real credit to our kids for fighting and executing the plan," Hampton added. "We were out-manned athletically at times today, but not with physicality and not with heart and that's a credit to our kids and what they possess on the inside. We have some guys injured like Tyler Gass and Trey Vessel and they fought and laid it out there. I wish we could have come away with a play or two and that one is on my shoulders to get us that play or two and just couldn't get it done for them today."
Maroa-Forsyth scored first in Saturday's affair at Boz Adams Field, but a pair of defensive turnovers helped Eldorado jump out to a 14-6 lead.
Jacob Traxler had an interception that led to a Vessel 1-yard touchdown and a Trojan fumble, recovered by Eldorado led to a Payton Price 16-yard score.
"Early on, I thought our defense did a great job of getting us some turnovers and Maroa-Forsyth never really got us on big plays where we weren't there," Hampton said. "We were in position today to make plays, but a credit to their kids for making those plays against us. I thought the turnovers helped us early and got us off to a good start. We had some drives where things stalled out in the first half and we couldn't get something going and put them behind the eight ball. That's a very well coached team and Maora-Forsyth played their tail off today."
The Trojans then responded with a pair of TD's of their own to take a 21-14 lead, but Jacob Traxler got Eldorado back to within one after he found paydirt from four yards out in the second quarter.
Another Trojan score with 2:17 left in the first half, provided a seven-point cushion, but it quickly vanished after Eldorado quarterback Kale Oglesby found Traxler in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard pass play to give Eldorado a 28-27 lead at halftime.
Eldorado used a 9:00 drive to start the third quarter and looked to have the Trojans on the ropes after Vessel scored from one-yard out with 3:53 to play, but Maroa-Forsyth's quarterback, Tyler Ray played the role of spoiler and scored on a 17 and 7-yard run, holding off any hopes Eldorado had of making a comeback.
Eldorado out rushed the Trojans 207 to 105 as Price had 85 yards on 13 carries, while Vessel finished with 72 yards on 21 carries and Traxler had 13 carries for 50 yards. Maroa-Forsyth won the passing battle however as May went for 218 yards on 15-of-23 passing with one interception. The Eagles had 64 yards passing from Oglesby as Max Kasiar had one catch for 31 yards, Traxler had one catch for 15 yards and Attebury had a snag for 18 yards.
Hampton eluded to his club running out of juice towards the end, adding that the Trojans had the pleasure of playing with a few more guys and playing at a faster level than Hampton said his Eagles were used to.
"We got tired and it cost us execution wise, but not heart or effort. Our kids played with a winning effort today, we just didn't execute at a high enough level. They did a tremoundous job all season long and should hold their heads high and know they did some special things in Eldorado this year."
Eldorado (9-2) closes out the 2016 campaign with the most wins under Hampton. The Eagles broke a streak that stood for the better part of five years, becoming the first Black Diamond Conference team to win a playoff game against a non-BDC opponent since Fairfield turned the trick in 2009.
Eldorado and Hampton also broke a 28-year streak with getting the school's first playoff win, which came against Flora last week.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register and Eldorado Daily Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.