Eagles soar to victory over Red Level High School

Published 11:04 pm Friday, September 13, 2019

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The Pleasant Home School Eagles football team soared over the Red Level High School Tigers last night 22-12.

The Eagles first got on the board after a rushing touchdown from Jacob Price, but they did not score on the two-point conversion, making it 6-0 with 7:08 in the first quarter.

After three four and out drives, the Eagles had a big run by Joshua Hawkins to get them to the 40-yard line. Jordan Davis had another first down run to end the quarter on the opposing 46-yard line.

To start the second quarter, Brendon Douglas had another first down run for the Eagles to get them to the opposing 32-yard line. The Eagles managed to get down to the red zone, but after a holding and unsportsmanlike conduct flag, they were backed up to the 38-yard line and ended up turning over on downs.

Red Level started with the ball on their own 15-yard line, but after a snap went over the punters head on fourth down, the Eagles managed to pin them on the 2-yard line and take over on downs.

Price took it to the house with five minutes left in the half and Hawkins converted for two points making it 14-0.

Red Level looked to have some momentum after returning a kickoff to the opposing 35-yard line, but after an intentional grounding call, it put the Tigers back on the opposing 46-yard line. They ended up punting on fourth down.

A fumble from the PHS led to the first Tiger touchdown with 1:50 left in the half. The Red Level quarterback, Parker Spears ran it to the end zone, but they did not make the extra point, cutting the lead, 6-14.

The Eagles managed to eat time away in the third quarter on their first drive, starting on their own 35-yard line.

LaDarius Purifoy, Price and Hawkins led the drive for the Eagles with Douglas punching it in at the one-yard line. John Barton finished off the scoring effort with a two-point conversion to increase the Eagle lead 22-6.

With 29 seconds left in the game, Spears connected with Malikye Wright in the end zone to give the Tigers their final points.

“If you see how we played tonight, we need to work on everything,” Red Level head coach Kenny Skipper said. “We couldn’t tackle, line up right, we didn’t block a soul. You have to give Pleasant Home credit though. They came out and played with a little heart and pride tonight and we didn’t. We have to find some guts because we don’t have any. If we don’t find any, then it is going to be a really long year.”

PHS head coach Richard Mercer said he was extremely proud of his players.

“They just worked so hard all week,” Mercer said. “We have been working for two weeks preparing for them. I do give a lot of credit to Coach Skipper and his staff. My guys were just ready to play. Defensively especially, we really made some plays.”

Mercer said this was the biggest game that Pleasant Home has played in since he has been head coach.

“This was our first win and I told everyone at the pep rally that this was the biggest game,” Mercer said. “The community showed out tonight, the crowd was behind us and we just rode that wave. We are just going to enjoy this one then get back to work on Monday to face a really good McKenzie football team.”

The Eagles (1-2,) (1-1,) are at home vs. McKenzie High School next week.

Red Level High School (0-3,) (0-2,) face Kinston High School next week at Kinston.