On Friday night, Sept. 25, the Eagles came out eager to hit, to run the ball, and score. FC faced Mojave, one of the top 8-man football team in the state. In the preluding week, the Eagles defense dedicated hours to counteract the opponents’ agile and aggressive offense. Fans showed up knowing that the game would be a difficult win.

Mojave won the coin-toss and they elected to differ, they wanted the ball in the second half. The kicker booted the ball and it landed almost to the goal post. The Eagles got the ball on their 15-yard line, ready to execute the offensive game plan the coaches felt confident in.

The team started off with a false start penalty and set them back to their own 10-yard line. The team however, overcame the disastrous beginning and got a first down. They drove down the field all the way to Mojave’s 20-yard line, but came up short on fourth down. In all of the following drives, the Eagles ended in a similar manner, constantly coming up short.

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The offense hung in there for the first few drives of the game, but once turnovers started to occur the team slowed down. They got all the way down to the opponents five-yard line, Mojave then intercepted the ball and returned it for a touchdown.

The defense started off with an intensity, shutting down Mojave’s quick offense. In the first few drives of the game FC stopped Mojave, keeping the scoreboard the same since half. However, due to the offense’s mistakes, the defense was on the field too often and eventually was not able to keep up with Mojave’s offense. In the 1st quarter, Senior Josh Freeman, had a critical 3rd down stop that left Mojave short of the end zone. But that was not enough for the Eagle’s defense, because Mojave scored on the next play.

Junior Matthew Tanaka believes the defense played well considering Mojave is number one in the state.

“I think the defense played all right considering Mojave was the number one team in the state,” Tanka said. “I thought I played good and did my part for the team. The linebackers and defensive backs need to work on chemistry on the field and the defensive front needs to work on controlling the offensive line.”

Offensive Coordinator Mike Z thought the Eagles struggled in the first half but came out stronger in the second half.

“The offense struggled Friday night,” Zamarripa said. “We were not able to finish drives and had too many turnovers, however we did finish strong by out scoring Mojave in the second half. We were able to utilize both pass and run against Mojave. We just could not keep drives going to get into the end zone. Turnovers are the number one thing we need to work on and the second would be blocking assignments.”

The Eagles will next play the Trinity Christian Warriors, at home at 7pm. Come out and support your FC Varsity Eagles football team.

For more football articles, check out Football sport short: Riverdale Christian.