By PRESTON EDWARDS, Journal Sports
When it comes to District 1-4A, the games between the top teams are often close. Either the games are high-scoring clashes or hard-hitting defensive struggles.
Friday night’s version between the Northwood Falcons and Evangel Eagles fit both dynamics.
In a game where an old-fashioned defensive struggle turned into a back-and-forth shootout, the Eagles clawed and pushed their way to a 40-21 victory over the visiting Falcons from Blanchard.
Evangel coach Denny Duron may have said it best as he considered the outcome.
“Anytime you gain a win against that coach (Northwood’s Austin Brown), you have done something. He is one of the best coaches I have coached against. His teams are always formidable.”
Speaking of formidable, that is what the Eagles’ duo of Peyton Fulghum and Tyreek Robinson were on Friday night. Robinson and Fulghum connected on passes of 57 and 48 yards in the first half. The first Fulghum pass scored the first touchdown of the game and the second set up the Eagles’ second score.
A pop pass for six yards in the fourth quarter to Robinson sealed the deal as Evangel went up 12 with under five minutes to play.
When Duron was asked about the performance of Robinson, he gushed with glee talking about the senior receiver.
“Tyreek is amazing. But we haven’t seen anything yet.”
While the teams combined for over 60 points, the first half of the game did not lead to that narrative whatsoever.
After the initial touchdown pass, Northwood and Evangel took turns stopping each other. Northwood completed short passes but could not get the run game going. On the Eagles’ side of the ball, costly penalties stymied all momentum they had moving the ball down the field.
A Peyton Fulghum fumble at the 1 negated another scoring chance before he plunged in from the same distance just prior to halftime to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
The fireworks came in a third quarter that saw five touchdowns scored in a 10-minute span.
Northwood’s Hutson Hearron, who threw for under 50 yards in the first half, completed two passes for 90 yards in a six-minute window, scoring two touchdowns.
Evangel produced two touchdowns of its own in a four-minute span as Fulghum and Josh Isaac scored on runs from within the five.
Hearron finished the third quarter scoring as he scampered 13 yards to paydirt and drew the Falcons within 26-21.
The Eagles’ defense took over in the fourth. On a night where they had five sacks, they dinged Hearron pretty good on a couple of them, sending him to the sideline, which helped quiet the Northwood attack the rest of the game.
Brown echoed that sentiment.
“Hutson was dinged and we didn’t want to get him hurt even more. So we pulled him out.”
Evangel forced a punt and blocked another to get short fields. Isaac scored his second touchdown during the last three minutes to seal the outcome and set the final score.
For the Eagles, the “triplets” were impactful. Isaac and Robinson had over 130 total yards apiece running and receiving on the night while Fulghum threw for over 200.
Northwood’s Hearron ended up with over 170 yards passing. The Falcons also got a spark by Tomarcus Keith on the ground, gaining 55 yards in the second half.
The Eagles, with a No. 9 power ranking in Select Division II, remained undefeated at 3-0 in District 1-4A (4-2 overall) while Northwood fell to 2-1 in district (2-4 overall).
The Falcons will travel to Minden next week while Evangel hosts North Desoto at Rodney Duron Field.
Contact Preston at preston9360@gmail.com