After One-Of-A-Kind Victory, Eagle Football Team to Host Battle of Unbeatens

Some games are more unique than others. The first three scores in the Eagles' football game at Cabrillo last Saturday were all safeties. Has that ever happened before at any level of college or professional football? Initial research indicates it was a first.

If you clicked the live scoring link on the Eagles' online schedule at half time, you may have thought the system was malfunctioning. It was not. The score really was 4-5.

The Eagles led 4-0 after the first quarter and were up 4-2 until Cabrillo kicked a 42-yard field goal and took a 5-4 lead on the last play of the first half.

Things changed for the better in the second half, and the Eagles scored 4 touchdowns for 26 unanswered points before Cabrillo added a TD with less than a minute to play.

The 30-11 victory improved the Eagles' record to 3-0, which got them a few votes in the weekly JCAB football rankings poll. although not enough to make the state's top 25.

Next, they'll be at home this Saturday afternoon against another 3-0 team, De Anza, which has three potential Division I receivers and received twice as many state poll votes this week as the Eagles.

When they played each other last year, De Anza scored two touchdowns in the final minute and a half to erase a 28-25 Siskiyous lead and claim a 39-28 victory on the way to winning the Pacific 7 championship with a 5-0 record. The Eagles finished second at 4-1.

It's not a conference game this year, because De Anza is now in the American Conference, which includes the three teams the Eagles have defeated this season, Gavilan (49-16), Merced (46-7) and Cabrillo.

"They're good like last year," Eagle head coach Adam Groppi said of De Anza. "It will be a big test."

Both teams are ranked high in several state-wide categories after the first three games of the season. The Eagles are ranked 2nd in state with 103 passing yards allowed per game and 9th in state with 247 yards of total offense allowed per game.

De Anza's offense is ranked 14th in state with 284 passing yards per game.

The Eagle offense is ranked 3rd in state with 297 rushing yards per game, 2nd in state with 11 rushing touchdowns, 3rd in state with 6.6 rushing yards per carry, 10th in state with 456 yards of total offense per game, and 13th in state with 41.7 points per game.

De Anza is ranked 20th with 412 yards of offense per game and has allowed slightly over 10 points per game after winning its first three games 21-2, 31-0, and 35-29.

The Eagle defense is ranked 1st in state with 8 fumble recoveries, 7th in state with 11.3 points allowed per game, and 3rd in state with 6 pass interceptions.

That defense has been succeeding with strong play at all three levels: the line, linebackers and defensive backs. In their previous home game, a 46-7 victory over Merced on Sept. 6th, the Eagles recovered 4 fumbles and intercepted 4 passes. One of those interceptions was returned 80 yards for a touchdown by freshman Clay Rhoades, who started the season as a running back.

The Eagles are deep in very good running backs, and their two quarterbacks have been good running with the ball too.

Freshman Morgan De Lago has rushed for 223 yards and is averaging 7 yards per carry. Returning all-leaguer Bryson McFall has rushed for 214 yards and is averaging 5.8 yards per carry. They've both scored 3 touchdowns, as has returning all-league lineman/short yardage back Zaveon Jones.

Another freshman, Jamar Thurman, has rushed for 163 yards with an average of 9 yards per attempt, while freshman Ryan Lemly has averaged 5.3 yards on his 12 rushes.

The Eagles have been rotating two quarterbacks while "seeing who can become the guy," according to Groppi. He said both sophomore Brayden Schiefer and redshirt freshman Kyle Dixon are "great kids, on the field, in the weightroom, in the classroom. They're both athletic, both have good arms, and both can tuck it and go."

So far, they both have similar passing efficiency ratings in the 140s.

Schiefer has completed 19 of 33 pass attempts for 297 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for a 141.1 passing efficiency rating. He has rushed for 142 yards and one touchdown on 9 carries.

Dixon has completed 13 of 25 pass attempts for 161 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions for a passing efficiency rating of 145.7. He has a rushing touchdown and 74 yards on 6 carries.

The quarterbacks' main target this season, as was the case last year, is returning all-leaguer David Wacenske, who has 12 catches for 160 yards and 1 touchdown.

Sophomore Parker Ziebert, normally a blocking tight end, has 5 catches for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns, while freshman Asher Lucas has 5 catches for 53 yards, and freshman Rafael Bauman has scored touchdowns on 2 of his 3 catches, including a 67 yarder.

Groppi said Wacenske, at 6-foot-3, is a "quarterback friendly target with a wide catch radius."

The offense started slowly against Merced but put it together in the second half. "It was our first game with adversity, and we overcame it," said Groppi, who sees this year's team as a good group overall. "We've got more leaders, and everyone's bought in."

The offensive line, with a bunch of 300 pound guys, "is coming together," Groppi said. Among the standouts are returning all-leaguers Brody Martin and Howie Thorne and 6-foot-2, 332 pound freshman Turtle Muliagatele-Plummer.

Returning all-league linebacker Cody Huntsinger leads the defense with 19 total tackles, and lineman Zaveon Jones has 14 total tackles, including 5 tackles for loss and 2 fumble recoveries.

Redshirt freshman defensive back Aidan Nelson has 12 total tackles and a team-high 3 pass interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Returning all-league linebacker Cody Clarke has 13 total tackles, a forced fumble, and leads the team with 2 quarterback sacks.

Clay Rhoades has 12 total tackles and 2 interceptions, and freshman linebacker Kyrese Banks has 5 tackles for loss including a sack.

By Steve Gerace