Tyler Palmateer
Daily Elk Citian
The Burns Flat-Dill City Eagles fell 33-13 at home to Crossing High School Friday night.
The Eagles were down 6-0 early, but a BFDC fumble was returned deep into its half of the field, which resulted in a Crossing score. Down 13-0, quarterback Tony Doorman hit Justin Perez to keep BFDC within 13-7 going into halftime.
The Eagles' head coach, Scott O'Hara, said the first four or five plays of the second half were what hurt his team. Crossing came out with multiple pooch kickoffs, which BFDC couldn't retain.
The first muff resulted in a Crossing score that gave them a 20-7 lead, while the second turned the ball over and took precious time off the clock for the Eagles.
"They drove and chewed up some of the third quarter clock. We didn't get the ball back until five minutes left in the third quarter."
But when it did retain possession, BFDC scored on a 9-yard touchdown run from Perez to stay within 20-13. However, the Eagles were shutout in the fourth quarter and Crossing found the end zone twice to secure the win.
O'Hara said the team suits up about 18 players, eight of which have never played varsity football, and three who are playing football for the first time in there lives. It was a learning experience and there positives.
"We did a lot of things right," O'Hara said. "Kids flew around, we made some good plays. Special teams can kind of turn the tide and that's what happened. Offensively, we moved the ball really well but couldn't really punch it in."
O'Hara said Michael Peoples ran the ball well, while Aaron Knight was efficient on the defensive end, getting four unassisted tackles and 15 assisted.
Burns Flat-Dill City 0 7 6 0 — 13
Crossing 6 7 7 13 — 33