On Friday 10/13 the Francis Scott Key Eagles headed to Manchester Valley to take on the Mavericks. This was a big in-county game for both teams. Overcast and rain earlier in the day made the field conditions slightly rough.
The Mavericks scored first in the first quarter with a 63 yard rushing touchdown from Isaiah Ferebee, (Mavericks Running Back) who broke a couple tackles on the way to the end-zone.
The Eagles struck back in the second quarter with a rushing touchdown from Keyondre Groomes, (FSK Running Back) and then they went for two and got it, the Eagles took the 8-7 lead over the Mavericks right before half. This gave the Eagles good momentum to build on going into the second half of this game.
The second half started off slow with a couple punts until Ben Stevens, (FSK Quarterback) threw an interception which led to a deep touchdown pass from Manchester Valley Quarterback to give them the 14-8 lead after the extra point. The Mavericks kicked off and the Eagles lateraled the kickoff back to Colton Feister and he takes it for a huge gain but the Eagles end up punting after a three and out.
The start of the 4th quarter began with the Mavericks getting into the redzone and looked as if they would score until Colton Feister of the Eagles made a huge on ball play and intercepted the pass.
Time is ticking down late in the fourth and the Eagles have the ball near midfield and need a big play, on fourth down, Eagles head coach David Cunningham decides to go for it. They go for a passing play way deeper than anyone expected. Braedon Haven, (FSK Receiver) was downfield as his quarterback Ben Stevens rolls out as he is getting pressured and lofts the ball deep down the left sideline, Braedon lunged over the Mavericks Cornerback and caught the ball, proceeded to stay on his feet and dive for the pylon for an impressive touchdown.
After the game Braedon was interviewed and this is what he had to say after he was asked what went through his mind before the play. “ We were going into the second half preaching efficiency, and finishing as well as capitalizing on opportunities, therefore knew it was time for a big play. We ran a couple dummy calls, hoping to draw the defense offsides. When the defense didn’t move, we checked the play and ran a flood left. Our quarterback, Ben Stevens, and I had chemistry from years of playing basketball and football together. Before the play, I made eye contact and tapped my head knowing he would look for me, I ran the wrong route on purpose in hopes that Ben would see this and throw me the ball which he did, and we converted a short fourth down into a 50 yard touchdown.” Then I simply asked him how it felt to get in the endzone for the first time this season, here’s what he had to say, “ It was exhilarating, it was completely electric. The momentum completely changed and next thing you knew we were in this ball game. Football is truly a game of momentum and next thing you knew we had all of it. We went on that defense with more energy than we had had all season, it was just a string of unfortunate plays that lost us the game. We want to keep the confidence and energy high for the rest of the season and try our best to go out there and get another win.”
The Mavericks then got the ball back and had to score a touchdown in crunch time. They went out there and drove down the field and had 56 seconds to score while they were near the Eagles 40-yard line. The quarterback threw a beautiful pass to the receiver who dropped an easy touchdown but they still had another chance. They completed the pass down the sideline similar to the play that the Eagles scored on and the receiver ran it in for a touchdown that won them the game.
Another devastating loss for the Eagles dropped them to 1-6. This big win for the Mavericks put them at 4-3 and a winning record going into their last 2 games.
The Eagles will play South Hagerstown at home next Friday for their Senior Night.
Hunter Berkau FSK Highschool