Prep Football: Eagles Scream Into Playoffs
History was made Friday night for Brandon Hampton and his Eagle football bunch.
With a 54-26 win over Vienna-Goreville at Boz Adams Field, Eldorado improved to 6-3 and secured a playoff berth for the second straight year.
For Hampton however, he became the first coach to take the Eagles to the playoffs for a fourth time under his tenure and for the 14th time in Eldorado football program history the Eagles are in the postseason.
Logan Kanady scored three touchdowns on the night as Eldorado rushed for more than 400 yards in a decisive win on senior night in Eldorado.
"It's a great feeling. I'm super proud of our kids effort and their commitment to set themselves apart. This football team really responds to unique situations and tonight was like no other. I'm proud of how they responded, how they fought, how tough they were and I thought they played with tremendous effort all night long.
The "unique situation" Hampton spoke of was senior starting quarterback Nathan Burnett being ejected in the second quarter for a targeting call. Burnett's ejection automatically keeps him out of Saturday's first round playoff game at Johnston City.
"It's a judgement call and you wish they would have got some help," Hampton said of the call. "It's unfortunate for Nathan and that's who I hurt for because that is a young man who has done so much for our program and our community. He's a super kid, he's not malicious. I thought he made a great hit, but I'll know more after I go back and watch the film."
Hampton added that as much as the Eagles positioning themselves for the postseason is the story of the game, the head coach was much more impressed with how his team responded after Burnett's ejection.
"The defense got a stop, the offense goes on a roll and then (Adam) Ninness did some nice things in our offense filling in for Nathan."
Ninness hooked up with Max Kaiser for a 59-yard strike in the fourth quarter. It was the last of seven scores for Eldorado on the night.
"He handled every snap and did a nice job of running our offense," Hampton said of the junior. "He's a guy who is also playing on defense and we kept running our offense to help him out a bit, so I though he did some nice things for us."
Kanady got things going early for Eldorado when he scored from 64 yards out. Vienna-Goreville then made it 8-6 after Geraldo Blanco scampered 52 yards in the first quarter.
Braxton roberts and Kanady scored for the Eagles in the second quarter and Kanady punched in his third TD in the third quarter, this one from 32 yards out.
"We felt like we could get Logan going early with his speed on the perimeter," Hampton said. "He stepped up and had a nice game for us."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Vienna-Goreville 06 06 00 14 - 26
Eldorado 08 14 24 08 - 54
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
ELD - Kanady 64 run (Burnett run), 6:24
V-G - Blanco 52 run (run failed), 3:59
Second Quarter
ELD - Roberts 7 run (run failed), 11:18
V-G - Daubert 58 run (run failed), 8:45
ELD - Kanady 8 run (Kanady run), 5:05
Third Quarter
ELD - Kanady 32 run (Roberts run), 11:21
ELD - Price 76 run (Roberts run), 8:06
ELD - Roberts 24 run (Price pass from Ninness), 5:37
Fourth Quarter
V-G - Daubert 6 run (Blanco run), 10:44
ELD - Kasier 59 pass from Ninness (Price run), 10:31
V-G - Krelo 1 run (run failed), 3:40
Team Statistics
V-G ELD
First Downs 17 18
Total Net Yards 350 417
Rushes-Yards 58-338 31-368
Passing 12 59
Comp-Att-Int 1-4-0 1-2-0
Penalties-Yards 7-65 2-23
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: V-G, Daubert 22-167, Blanco 7-146, Krelo 13-25 Colson 3-9, VanAusdoll 2-(-2). ELD, Kanady 5-117, Roberts 13-121, Price 4-99, Molinarolo 6-29, Burnett 1-4, Traxler 1-1.
PASSING: V-G, Krelo 1-4-0. ELD, Ninness 1-1-0 59, Burnett 1-0-0 0.
RECEVING: V-G, Blanco 1-12. ELD, Kaiser 1-59.