News staff
With the High School Football regular season drawing to a close, the importance of each game feels magnified as teams compete for conference championship titles and look forward to postseason competition. None of this was lost on the Almond-Bancroft Eagles as they took to the field on Friday night against a tough Laona Wabeno Rebels team.
Almond-Bancroft set the tone of the game quickly with QB Emmitt Stiles targeting Ayden Phillips for a huge 43 yard reception on just their second play of the game. Stiles would find Phillips again for a touchdown just a few plays later. The visiting Rebels were fast to respond with a touchdown of their own but would soon find themselves overpowered on both sides of the ball and struggling to gain momentum against an Eagles team that was determined to play a fast paced and hard hitting game.
Nearly every time Rebels QB Cooper Albrecht dropped back to pass he found himself dodging a wave of Eagles pass rushers, often throwing on the run or with the arms of one Eagle or another pulling at him. Davis Dernbach was a constant presence in the Laona Wabeno backfield, seemingly always near the harassed QB and coming up big with two drive-ending sacks more than 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. This pass rushing effort paid off doubly with Albrecht throwing a pair of interceptions into the waiting arms of the Eagles’ Clarence Pratt, one of which was returned 40 yards for a defensive touchdown.
Alternatively, the Eagles offense was essentially free to move about as they liked. QB Emmitt Stiles often had ample time to find his receivers and excellent blocking up front to run with. Stiles totaled 352 passing yards with 3 touchdowns and ran for 159 yards and 4 touchdowns over the course of the evening. Downfield the Rebels had no answer for the 6 ‘6 Ayden Phillips, who seemed to reel in every ball thrown his way and often required the effort of multiple defenders to be brought down. Phillips logged 282 yards on 11 receptions for the evening, catching all three of the teams receiving touchdowns. The clock ran out with both Junior Varsity teams on the field, and accounting for half of the Rebels final score.
After the game Coach Andy Lewis was already looking forward to next week’s home game against Tigerton, which will conclude the regular season and determine the team’s final conference standing, which is currently in a three way tie for first. On top of Lewis’ to-do list is working on the team’s point after conversions, which they have struggled with all season. “It’s really the one thing we haven’t been very good at all year,” said Lewis, noting that he’d love to improve the team in this area with playoffs quickly approaching and the conference title on the line in next week’s game, “that stuff, you’ve gotta finish.”
The Eagles host Tigerton on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. for their final game of the regular season.
By Tyler Weston, Argus Correspondent
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here