By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
It’s rare, make that probably unprecedented, that with Peyton “Pop” Houston at quarterback, Evangel’s offense might need to apologize to the Eagles’ defense.
Happened Friday night, though. No doubt, as Houston said after suffering three first-half interceptions by Neville’s Tigers, “really the main message was for the defense not to give up on us.”
One of the swipes was a pick six, a 27-yard scoring scamper by C.J. Goins. He did it again and nearly housed that one, running the interception 50 yards back to the Eagles’ 6, where Neville cashed in on the next snap.
Considering Houston threw all of nine interceptions in Evangel’s 12 games a year ago, and only six in his sophomore season, three in one half was surreal. But while he and the Eagles were on their heels, they were far from done.
And that’s a lesson they are carrying forward from Friday’s 43-27 homefield defeat, dropping Evangel to 0-2 and still trying to find its way. For now.
Despite the pickoffs, Neville led just 16-7 at halftime, but stretched it to 23-7 a minute into the third quarter, when Parker Robinson found Emaude Sledge open deep on a post pattern that covered 61 yards.
It was about to get ugly. Neville knows how to put the hammer down, and the Tigers’ winning tradition stretches back to black & white TVs, at least.
But in the cell phone era, the Eagles take a back seat to very few. They weren’t done yet.
“Offensively, I knew we were going to figure out eventually,” said Houston. “Me and my dad (Shaun, Evangel’s offensive coordinator) have a connection like no other. I live with him. So (at halftime), just telling the defense not to give up on us because we were going to continue to make the plays to fight back in this game.”
Yes, Neville rode east on I-20 to Monroe with a 16-point victory, but it did not come easily. The Evangel defense kept battling and the offense started, well, Popping.
Eight plays midway through the third quarter navigated 80 yards, the last 10 on a Houston keeper with 4:37 showing for a second ECA TD. On the third play of Evangel’s next series, he added to his collection of YouTube highlights with a snakelike 56-yard scoring gallop, dropping back with the snap to his own 31, looking deep, pulling it down, racing left between two Tigers to the Eagles’ sideline, then cutting across the field and down the Neville sideline the last few yards, barely brushed by three of seven defenders who were either flailing at him or faked out by him.
“It’s like trying to catch a deer,” said one of the Neville radio crew.
Evangel trailed only 23-19, no time left in the quarter, 12 minutes to go.
Neville offensive coordinator Steven Ensminger Jr., no fool, went right back to what worked. Four plays later, he dialed up that Robinson to Sledge post again, a 70-yarder for a 30-19 lead with 10:23 left.
Didn’t last long. Coming out of a timeout with 8:07 showing, the Eagles were staring at fourth-and-8 near midfield. Houston found wide open Jayden Hicks on a crossing route for first down yardage. Hicks spun away from two defenders and sprinted in for a 53-yard strike. Houston’s two-point conversion made it 30-27.
But there were no more miracles in the last eight minutes for Evangel. Neville (1-1) responded like a Non-Select Division I semifinalist from a year ago, driving 80 yards in 10 plays to create 37-27 advantage, and put it away a series later after Evangel had to gamble and failed on a fourth down at its own 20 with under four minutes left.
“We have to understand that this team beat us, that they’re a great football team, and tip our hat to them, and say, ‘hey, we appreciate the opportunity to play you,’ “ said Evangel coach Denny Duron, who said the outcome did not diminish his faith in this season’s future.
Two losses, 42-32 to West Monroe before falling to Neville, and the quick take would be the Eagles aren’t all that this year. Not so fast, friends, said Houston.
“These losses keep adding chips on our shoulders that we need, using that as motivation to come into district strong, making sure we never feel that feeling again, and carrying that through district and through the playoffs.
“We’ve got a lot of new guys in their first year starting. The speed of the game is going to be a little bit different. But I trust those guys 100 percent. I know the work that we put in and what we do behind closed doors will eventually show,” he said. “Our time’s not right now, so we’ll continue to put the work in until God says it’s our time.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com