Eagles defense stiffens in second half to steal the momentum
Bedford, TX – DeSoto’s coach Claude Mathis wasn’t sure what to expect from his young defense, but at the half, he challenged them to step it up and play error free.
Needless to say, it didn’t happen in a mistake prone first half seesaw battle which evolved into a DeSoto second half shutout, to keep the Eagles record spotless, by pounding (Oklahoma) Jenks Trojans 46-27 in the Southwest Showcase on Saturday evening at Pennington Stadium.
“We played defense in the second half. I challenged the guys on defense and they stepped up. There young. We have some young pups. So I’m glad this happened to us”, DeSoto coach Claude Mathis said. They had a chance to come back and redeemed themselves and they did.”
It was a strange game that watched five first half lead changes, mixed with mistakes and turnovers.
The Eagles defense met the challenge head on in the second half, holding Jenks to minus one yards.
Jenks, playing without three starters, took advantage of a couple of Eagle turnovers to gain a 12-0 lead. On fourth and 15, the Trojans forced a bad snap that got past the DeSoto’s punter. That gave Jenks possession at the Eagles 38 yard line. Then, running back Trey’Vonne Barr’e rushed three times before ripping off a 32-yard touchdown run.
“It was really a hard fought game, I thought both sides played extremely well and gave a good effort. It was a little bit sloppy, they had a couple fumbles. The same with us, giving up a couple blocked kicks and the interception”, says Jenks coach Allen Trimble. It was a little bit sloppier than what we would have both liked. But my kids did what I asked them to do. They went out and played hard.”
The Eagles (2-0) next drive resulted in a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, in its territory. That led to Barr’e, who later left the game with a knee injury and never returned, scored his second touchdown of the day, a one-yard run, and Jenks led 12-0 with 5:38 left in the first quarter, after a fail two-point conversion.
Barr’e who accounted for nearly 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, was exceptional in limited action. He also ran back a 71-yard kickoff return after a bizarre situation when the kickoff bounce off of Braden Calip and was kicked by a Desoto player as Barr’e found the ball and raced down the field for the score.
“The first half was just a knock down drag out. It was a great game. DeSoto has a wonderful squad, big talent, great speed and they play hard. There well coached. In the second half we played without a couple of backs. Trey’Vonne (Knee) and Braden Calip (ankle),” said coach Trimble.
The Trojans are (0-2) for the first time since 1986. Its first loss of the season came at the hands of rival Tulsa Union.
Just as things were going well for the Trojans, the hand of good fortuned changed in favor of DeSoto. 18 unanswered points stunned the Jenks crowd. With less than a minute after Jenks scored, Eagles junior quarterback Desmon White connected with speedster Brandon McDowell on a deep post pattern which covered 60 yards. Jenks then turned the ball over on downs, that lead to running back Dontre Wilson’s seven yard touchdown run and sophomore kicker Francisco Obregon nail a 32-yard field goal and DeSoto led 18-12.
DeSoto scored the winning touchdown with1:17 to go in the second quarter to lead 32-27 and tacked on 14 points in the third quarter to complete its scoring.
“The offense is not clicking yet. We’re not playing well yet for the second game this season. Its kind of scary right now for us. Thats the way it is when you face a great team. Thats why we work hard in practice. We strain our kids a lot in practice so we’ll be ready for the game. We are 5-0 in out-of-state games. We beat Noa twice, we beat Miramar (FLa) and Douglas,” Mathis said.
Desmond White led DeSoto with 181 yards passing, and a touchdown, while Dontre Wilson picked up 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
“They were a good hard hitting team”, DeSoto’s RB Dontre Wilson said. junior LB Trent Taber hit me hard a couple times. But I’ve been preparing to take those hits and to carry the ball more.”
