Prep Football: Eagles' second half comeback falls short against Flora
Despite outscoring Flora 14-7 in the second half, Eldorado tried to climb out of a 28-0 halftime deficit in a 35-14 loss at Boz Adams Field Friday night.
The loss sends the Eagles to 0-3 in Black Diamond Conference play, while Flora stays unbeaten at 3-0.
Flora's 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior running back Hayden Gibson bruised Eldorado for three first half touchdowns as the Wolves built a quick 21-0 lead through two quarters. Flora added another score with 6:14 left in the first half when Jace Helm hooked up with Cole Young on a 55-yard strike, giving Flora a 28-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Parker Price connected on a 30-yard bomb to Chase Kittinger up the middle as Dylan Henshaw provided the two-point conversion, putting Eldorado on the board with 5:26 in the third quarter.
After Flora's John McGee punched one in from 13 yards out, Eldorado put up one more score when Price put up a 38-yard pass to Josh Owens in the corner of the end zone.
Price threw for 105 yards on the night, finishing 3-for-11 with an interception.
On the ground, Eldorado racked up 179 yards on 37 carries as Brock Cantrell led all runners with 77 yards on eight carries. Chase Kittinger had 53 yards on nine carries, while Dylan Henshaw finished with 33 yards on 13 carries.
In the air, Owens (38 yards), Kittinger (30), Henshaw (25) and Cantrell (12) all had one catch.
Eldorado gave up 345 yards of total offense as the Wolves rushed for 244 on 35 carries as Gibson led the ground game with 140 yards on 18 carries. Under center, Helm was 6-for-15 with three picks and 101 yards.
In addition to his TD catch on the night, Owens had three picks for the Eagles.
"There were some substations on their end, but we basically played better in the second half and
made it mildly interesting," EHS head coach Joe Clark said. "We were trying to stay in the fight, compete and it was good to play better offensively and put a couple of scores in the end zone so that's a positive. Our defense was just trying to hang in there and scrambling around, making plays, playing with effort with all the youth we have out there. I'm just proud of the effort particularly in the second half."
Eldorado, who was scheduled to play at Vienna-Goreville Saturday, will take the forfeit win and move to 1-3 on the season. The Eagles will play next at Hamilton County on September 24th.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.