By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Evangel scored 71, surprised nobody. After all, the Eagles scored 70 at Captain Shreve last year – and lost.
Shreve scored 25, shocked everybody. Except the Evangel defensive coaching staff and players – well, maybe even them, to some degree.
The Gators had hung 66 a week earlier on Airline, were averaging 56 in their four District 1-5A wins, and Jamarcea Plater was lining up at tailback – the same converted cornerback who ran for 2,234 yards and 29 touchdowns in 11 games last year (352 and 4 against Evangel), and who shattered the school career rushing record in his 16th career game, at Airline, when he posted 320 all-purpose yards, 202 rushing on 19 carries.
What happened Friday night at Rodney Duron Stadium? In a showdown between Evangel and Shreve, two of the three teams unbeaten in District 1-5A, that shaped up as nothing short of spectacular, and was only slightly shy of that until the Eagles’ dominant second half?
One: the Gators didn’t get a full Plater.
Two: they had no answer for full throttle Evangel.
Plater was knocked out – almost literally – on the fifth snap of the second quarter, with the crown of his helmet driven into the turf on a clean but hard tackle inside the Evangel 10. The senior was wobbly when helped to his feet about a minute later. Fortunately cobwebs were not apparent afterward as he sat on a trainer’s table. By that point, he had 179 rushing yards including touchdowns of 44 and 80 yards on Shreve’s first two series, out of their “Troy” formation, a near-wedge Gator version of the Wildcat, with line splits measured in inches, not feet.
Shreve finished that drive, made it 19-14 visitors 9:21 before halftime. But although Plater returned in the second half, he added just 50 more rushing yards, and the only Gator score came on a running clock midway through the fourth quarter after Evangel exploded to slam Shreve with 35 unanswered third-period points.
As for full throttle Evangel: the Eagles (5-1 overall, 5-0 in district) drove downfield but stalled on their opening series, then weren’t stopped again. Ever. They scored on eight straight possessions, added a ninth TD on Ethan Mandigo’s 15-yard pick six, and made it 10 with a 69-yard kickoff return by Cardelrio Coleman and a likely impromptu two-point conversion run by kicker Antuan Robinson Jr. in the waning moments just before time evaporated.
It was a night that began with palpable excitement from fans from both schools and a couple from Indiana who drove 700 miles to watch the Eagles team they had fallen for while watching ECA on Fox Nation’s docuseries “God. Family. Football.” It wasn’t an overflow audience – tell that to anyone stuck in the traffic snarl, trying to leave afterward – but it was the biggest throng to watch an ECA home game in years.
“I felt the energy, and it did feel like the old days,” said Eagles coach, school headmaster and church pastor Denny Duron, the architect of the glory days of the Evangel football powerhouse. “It certainly didn’t feel like the last four years, because we’ve been in a rebuild since 2020. Tonight I walked out and I was grateful to God that he has allowed us to see this thing in fullscale renewal and revival.”
The Number 1 reason? Undeniably his quarterback, wearing Number 1, the incomparable Peyton “Pop” Houston, the LSU commit for the 2027 recruiting class. His stats Friday night were modest: 175 yards passing was the lowest of his 17-game career by 71 yards, and he ran for 99 yards, a bit better than average but nothing remarkable.
Except for that 32-yard TD run, a scramble from a straight dropback. He swivel hipped a defender on the left hash mark near the 25, veered to the right, saw a Gator (Isaiah Moore) angling toward him upfield on the right hash around the 10, and outran Moore toward the sideline and down the stripe to the goalline. It was 50-19. Manigo’s TD followed on the next play.
“If you drop that many people back, I can run a little bit,” Houston said, grinning slightly. “I had one guy to beat, and luckily I beat that guy, and it was just open grass. Number 4 did a great job of closing that open grass, so I had to find another route. I had a good barrier to get around the edge and got in there.”
Houston credited his dad for evening agility workouts that have developed his run skllls. He credited offensive coordinator Kramer Hagen for a great game plan. He raved about his offensive line’s performance. He smiled when asked about the next night’s Homecoming dance.
Shreve coach Jeremy Wilburn was miffed his team (4-2, 4-1) faltered when Plater was sidelined.
“We had them on their heels, we were doing exactly what we wanted, we were controlling the game, and then he gets slammed to the ground. Those things happen. We’ve got to learn how to respond as a team.”
Duron saw it differently, not disrespectfully toward the Gators – he was a star quarterback for Lee Hedges’ early Shreve teams – but with praise for his defense.
“When he came back in the second half we played well against him. I can’t take anything away from our defensive coaches and players. They have so longed for a game when they could really walk off and hold their heads high,” he said. “This is that one, so I’m going to put all the credit at their feet.
“We understood these guys could beat us. They’re very, very talented. It was our night. Next time it could be theirs.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com