Pleasant Home Eagles run into buzz saw named Wadley
Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 11, 2017
The Pleasant Home Eagles’ season came to an abrupt end when the fell 65-18 to Wadley in they first round of the AHSAA Class 1A state playoffs.
“It became evident after their first drive that we weren’t going to be able to hold our own with them,” Pleasant Home head coach Rick Mercer said. “They played big-boy football and just lined up and ran it right at us.”
Mercer said that the Wadley defense was also as good as advertised.
“Defensively, they were as stout as I thought they were going to be,” Mercer said. “It took everything we had just to must up a big play.”
The Eagles were able to come up with a couple of scores in the first half of the game.
Robert Scott and Nic Woods connected on a pair of touchdowns, but the Eagles trailed by a large margin at halftime.
“It got out of hand pretty quickly,” Mercer said. “I hate it ends like this, but I want to wish the seniors well.”
Late in the third quarter, the Eagles found the end zone for the third time in the game.
Scott connected with Jon Cooley on a long pass for a score.
Previously, the Wadley defense hadn’t given up more than 7 points at any point this season.
“We scored more points on them than anyone else has this year,” Mercer said. “Regardless of the final score, I’m proud of these kids. It’s a proud thing to be in the playoffs. At least we got to play another week, and there were a lot of teams that didn’t. I’m sure there were a lot of teams around the state that got beat by 50 or more points tonight. I’m proud of these guys, we are a playoff team and that’s something to be proud of.”
With the loss, the Eagles end the season with a 5-6 record.
“We will get back after and get ready for next season,” Mercer said. “I want to wish the seniors the best of luck and I want to thank them for what they have put into the program over the past several years.”