Things Have Changed: Football Team Starts Season 4-2

A first-quarter pass from quarterback Andreus Smith to wide receiver David Wacenske looked like a big gainer at first, then looked like an interception, then ended up being a 75-yard touchdown completion that helped tie the score at 7-7 in the Eagles' conference-opening win against Los Medanos Oct. 19th in Weed.

Like that play, a lot happened quickly in the game's first half, which ended with the Eagles trailing by a point, 25-24.

Also, like that play, the Eagles eventually took control for a 49-32 victory that improved their overall record to 4-2. That's 2 more wins than they had all last year and as many wins as they had in the three previous years combined.

As first-year Eagles head coach Adam Groppi saw it, both the defense and the offense contributed to shutting down Los Medanos in the second half. "The defense made adjustments and got crucial stops, and we moved the ball on offense," he said. "It was a good team victory."

In the first half, Los Medanos had drives of 82, 80, 75 and 60 yards and totaled 320 yards. But they had just 130 yards on 5 drives in the second half; the longest one, the first time they had the ball in the third quarter, went 47 yards.

The Eagles, on the other hand, had six drives for 245 yards in the first half and five drives for 265 yards in the second half.

The Eagles longest drive of the game started at their own 10-yard line and ended with Wacenske's 75-yard touchdown catch and run. Ranked 4th among conference receivers and 7th in the state with just under 95 receiving yards per game, Wacenske said he should have caught the pass to begin with but had trouble seeing it. The ball hit his shoulder pad and flew into the hands of one of three nearby defensive backs. But before the defensive back could do anything with the ball, "I just took it from him," Wacenske said. That defensive back fell to the ground, and the other two had no chance to catch the receiver as he dashed to the end zone.

Wacenske finished the game with 3 catches for 123 yards, while mobile quarterback Smith completed 7 of 12 pass attempts for 168 yards and ran with the ball 7 times for 30 yards.

Jake Westerman had 3 catches for 43 yards, but the Eagle ground game was the star of the show, as has been the case often this season.

Running back Bryson McFall had a huge game with 17 carries for 172 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 10.1 yards per carry, while running back Anthony Martin-Sweet averaged 9.3 yards per carry, finishing with 9 rushes for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. Genaro Reyna averaged 5.8 yards on his 4 carries, Skyler Crane ran it 4 times at 4.3 yards per pop, and Lawrence Grimes had 2 rushes for 10 yards.

And then there's No 99, Zaveon Jones, the 6-foot-1, 275 pound freshman who starts on the defensive line and plays running back in the Eagles' goal line offense. He had just 3 carries for 8 yards against Los Medanos, but 2 of them went for touchdowns, his 6th and 7th TDs of the season.

That ties him for 2nd in the conference in rushing touchdowns, and he leads the team in points with 44.

As a team, the Eagles lead the state with 222.2 rushing yards per game. They've run for 1,333 yards in 6 games and are averaging 4.9 yards per carry. They rank 6th in state with 16 rushing touchdowns and are 12th in state with 35.7 points per game.

McFall ranks second in conference rushing with 80.3 yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry. Smith is ranked 4th in conference with 39.5 yards per game and Martin-Sweet is ranked 5th with 38.7 yards per game while averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

Smith throws less frequently than the other quarterbacks in conference, but he's thrown for 11 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.

Defensive back Juan Serna led the Eagles with 6 solo tackles and 8 total tackles against Los Medanos, while linebacker Cody Huntsinger had 7 tackles, defensive back Andrew Robinson 6, and linebackers Cody Clarke and Wesley Santiago 5 each.

Huntsinger is ranked 2nd in conference with 8.5 tackles per game, and the Eagles are tied for 10th in the state with 8 fumble recoveries.

If not for a tough 24-17 overtime loss two weeks earlier in Weed against Monterey Peninsula – a team that averages 41 points per game -- the Eagles' record could be even better.

Now, after a scheduling aberration that gave them two byes in a three-week stretch, the Eagles will finish the season with four conference games in November, three of them against strong opponents. They're scheduled to play at Chabot Saturday, at home against Yuba Nov. 9th, at De Anza Nov. 16th, and at home against Redwoods Nov. 23rd.

De Anza is 2-0 in conference and 7-0 overall and 2nd in the state with 48.7 points per game.

Redwoods is 3-0 in conference and 6-1 overall and 8th in state with 38.5 points per game.

Chabot is 0-2 in conference after losses to De Anza and Redwoods but has a good passing game, averages more than 30 points per game, and is 3-2 in non-conference games.

Yuba is 0-2 and 0-7 and forfeited its last game to Redwoods.

"We're getting ready for the grinder," Groppi said of the upcoming schedule. He sees Los Medanos as a good team with a quarterback who gets out of the pocket well and passed for 317 yards. They also feature difficult-to-stop receiver Marques Singleton. He had 12 catches for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Eagles and ranks 5th in state with 104.3 receiving yards per game.

Groppi said rest from the bye weeks should be good for the Eagles going forward. "We're getting better, jelling, coming together at the right time." He pointed to the team's "awesome staff" and improved special teams play that included good efforts against Los Medanos by the kickoff and punt return teams. Demetrius McWillie had 2 kickoff returns for 82 yards and Kameron Apilado averaged 17 yards on 5 punt returns. Genaro Reyna had 4 touchbacks on his 9 kickoffs and was 5 for 5 on extra point attempts. Reyna also recovered a fumble on the Eagles' only punt of the game.

By Steve Gerace