Waterford Leaves Reedsville With Win Over Eastern
By: Claire Geary
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REEDSVILLE, Ohio– With the Friday night lights pounding down on the green field at East Shade River Stadium, the Waterford Wildcats’ defense swarmed the Eastern Eagles just like the flies that resided in the grass and terrorized the spectators on a muggy night.
It was a slow start for both teams in the beginning, as Eagle and Wildcat alike looked for momentum to drive forward the rest of the first half. Defense prevailed on the first set of downs, as Eastern failed to convert a third down courtesy of a sack from junior Cole Miller from the Wildcats.
But offensive struggles did not stop special teams from succeeding. Miller continued to dominate the game, as he blocked a punt from the Eagles which resulted in a touchdown return to put Waterford on the board.
With a score of 6-0 in the middle of the first quarter, Eagles senior Steve Fitzgerald drove the ball into the endzone for a one-yard touchdown on a first and inches for Eastern to put their first set of points on the board. The field goal was good, putting one point between the two green machines, 7-6.
Throughout the second quarter, the Eagles struggled to find some momentum to build and keep pace with the Wildcats. After some big sacks from Waterford’s defense and multiple turnovers from their offense, Eastern found themselves struggling.
With seconds left on the scoreboard to round out the second quarter, senior quarterback Zane Heiss broke two tackles and rolled out to the left side of the field and threw a 46-yard pass to sophomore Holden Dailey for a touchdown to close out the first half 18-7 Waterford.
In the second half, the Eagles came out of the locker room as a different team, putting points on the board in quick fashion. After an exciting second half from both teams, Waterford won the game 24-19 in Reedsville.
Some standout players from Waterford include Nick Fouss who added two touchdowns and a total of 138 yards. Miller and Dailey each had a touchdown for the night, with Dailey earning 63 yards.
Turning the attention towards the defensive side of the ball for the Wildcats, the team totaled three sacks, two of which stemmed from Miller’s aggressiveness at the line of the scrimmage. Junior Joe Pantelidis had the other sack of the night, an exceptional play that resulted in a loss of nine yards.
Next week, the Eagles travel to play South Gallia. South Gallia is looking to comeback after a tough loss to Trimble Tomcats this week, 45-0. As for the Wildcats, they return to Waterford to play the Miller Falcons.