FOOTBALL: Eagles tripped up in finale
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Eldorado head coach Brandon Hampton knows all too well that football, like many sports, is primarily based on emotion.
As the regular season finale took shape Friday night on the road for the Eagles, they couldn't match what the Red Devils needed.
What Sesser-Valier needed was that all important fifth win to qualify for the playoffs and the Red Devils got it in the form of a 30-22 victory over the Eagles at Carroll Kelly Field.
Despite the fact that Eldorado was already safely secured with a berth in the post season, it was a disappointing loss for Hampton, who was looking for the school's seventh win, a feat the Eagles haven't been able to match since 1996.
"We had a good week practice, we were prepared, but Sesser just blocked better, tackled better and when the team that does those two things best are usually the team that comes out ahead."
The difference in the outcome Hampton said was the all-purpose yards Greg Jenkins had for the Red Devils. The senior do-everything for Sesser-Valier finished with 235 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns on the night.
"He put that team on his back and willed them to a win tonight. It seemed like anything they wanted to do with him, they did."
Also alarming for Hampton was the fact that the Eagles - who have punted just four times all year - failed to convert on numerous three-and-one and fourth-and-one situations.
"You don't win and you don't deserve to win when you can convert on those kind of situations. I thought our offensive line played well and our running backs put up some yards, but we just had some break downs that we don't normally have."
On the flip side, Eldorado matched Sesser-Valier-Woodlawn-Waltonville yards for yards on the ground, winning the battle 341 to 331.
Eldorado got on the board in the first quarter with a 60-yard touchdown run by Deshawn Turner and then got a one-yard run by Dylan Roberts. In the third quarter, Joe Blair had a one-yard run.