Eagles gain first win with Hampton
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It was out with the old and in with the new, as the Eldorado Eagles and new Coach Brandon Hampton got the better of the host Elverado Falcons and ex-Eagles coach Duffy Sanders, 41-0 Friday night in Black Diamond Conference play.
The Eagles defense kept the game scoreless in the first quarter after the Falcons moved into Eagle territory.
Ryan Moore recovered a fumble to give the Eagles the ball at midfield. Six plays later, Dakota Creamer scored the Eagles first points of the season on a three-yard quarterback draw play, and Nick Houseright's kick pushed the lead to 7-0.
Eldorado's defense came up big again two possessions later. After being forced to punt from their own two-yard line, the Falcons took over at the Eagles 20.
Four plays later the Eagles defense held, giving the offense the ball at their own 22 yard line, on downs.
The big play of the first half came on an Eagle punt. Facing a fourth and nine from their own 30 with just 1:30 left in the second quarter, the Falcons were flagged for roughing the punter, giving the Eagles a first down at their own 45.
"In order to win games you have to take advantage of what the other teams give you," Hampton said, "and we did on that roughing the punter penalty."
Did they ever.
Facing a second and 10 from the Falcon 47, quarterback Dakota Creamer took the ball on a quarterback trap and ran off right tackle for 45 yard gain to the Falcons' two-yard line.
Creamer then carried over the goal line on the next play, and with the Houseright kick, the Eagles had some breathing room heading into the second half, 14-0.
The Falcons again were their own worst enemy starting the second half.
Trying to catch the Eagles off-guard, they tried an onside kick, which rolled out of bounds. The Eagles declined the penalty and took the ball at the Falcon 35-yard line.
With 10:43 left in the third period, Keith Morrison took it into the end zone for a 20-0 Eagle lead.
The defense was there again for the Eagles on the ensuing position, as Anthony Hudson recovered a fumble two plays later at the Falcons' 24.
Keith Morrison did the work again, scoring his second TD of the night with an eight-yard run. Houseright's kick made it 27-0.
Morrison wasn't done.
After the defense forced yet another punt, Morrison took the handoff, broke two tackles and outran the rest of the Falcon defense for a 50-yard TD run and with Houseright's kick the Eagles were up 34-0.
The Eagles completed the scoring with a 55-yard TD pass from Creamer to Nick Houseright.
The Eagle defense had the last word, as the Falcons had a first and goal at the Eagles' nine-yard line.
The defense preserved the shutout victory when defensive back Anthony Hudson came up with his second interception of the night in the end zone, sealing the shutout.
Hudson's play didn't go unnoticed by the Eagles coaching staff. "Anthony Hudson made some plays for us tonight," Hampton said. "When the ball was in the air, he went and got it.
"The silver lining was we played the last four plays just as hard as we did the first four, to preserve that shutout.
"I told these guys this was a big victory for our team, in building this program back to where we want it to be," Hampton said.
Things don't get any easier next week as the Eagles travel to Fairfield.
The Eagles are 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the BDC.