Eagles even season record with 42-31 win

Submitted by Canton1 on
By David Kapitan Sports Editor

The Canton Eagles made their way to Tyler last week, taking on the Grace Community Cougars for the fourth consecutive season. Canton, winners in two of the last three meetings with the Cougars, got the better of Grace once again securing a 42-31 win on the road Sept. 8.

Grace took possession of the football first, beginning play at their own 16-yard line after a misplay of the opening kickoff. The Cougars picked up just two yards on their first offensive drive before punting the ball to the Eagles.

Canton’s first drive mirrored Grace's first drive, resulting in a punt after the first three plays netted just three total yards.

After a well-placed punt by Simon Miller, the Cougars began their second drive of the night on their own 15-yard line. Grace flipped the field position battle quickly, picking up two first downs to cross into Canton territory.

The Eagle defense held firm with Grace threatening, pushing back the Cougar offense back into their own side of the field with a series of timely plays. After an excellent punt by Grace, Canton took possession of the football for a second time in the game at their own 13-yard line with 6:39 to play. The Eagles averted disaster on the first play of the drive, recovering a fumble to retain possession deep in their own territory.

Faced with a second and 12 to go after the fumble, McGwire Martin connected with Tanner Moore on a bubble screen that pushed the ball to the 35-yard line for a fresh set of downs. Martin kept the ball on the next play, netting 13-yards on a quarterback keeper to get the ball near midfield. Carter Day continued to push the Eagles closer to the end zone, catching a short pass from Martin near the line of scrimmage and weaving his way for 43-yards down to the Grace nine-yard line.

Simon Miller put the exclamation point on the first scoring drive of the night for the Eagles, keeping the ball on a nine-yard keeper for a touchdown. With the Jair Rodriguez PAT, Canton held a 7-0 lead over the Cougars with 5:00 to play in the quarter.

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