Meadowview falls to Eastwood, 13-12

Published 1:45 am Saturday, September 14, 2013

Meadowview Christian’s Wesley Gunter attempts to catch a pass in the Trojans 13-12 loss to Eastwood Academy Friday night.--Dennis Palmer

Meadowview Christian’s Wesley Gunter attempts to catch a pass in the Trojans 13-12 loss to Eastwood Academy Friday night.–Dennis Palmer

It was a tale of two halves for the Meadowview Christian School Trojans as they hosted the Eastwood Christian Warriors and came up just short, losing 13-12.

Eastwood controlled the first half of the game led by quarterback Eli Cobb, who scored the Warriors’ first touchdown on a 12-yard run around right end on fourth and goal. The point after failed giving the Warriors a 6-0 lead.

The Warriors (1-2) struck again in the second quarter when Elijah Owen took a screen pass from Cobb on the Meadowview 25-yard line, and shed tacklers on his way to the endzone. The PAT was good giving the Warriors a 13-0 lead going into the half.

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The Trojans (0-3) woke up the second half, though playing inspired football and fought back behind senior Carstella Hayes, who switched from running back to quarterback.

“He’s a senior and the leader of our team and we thought they were prepared for us to bunch up and run right at them,” said Trojan Head Coach Lebo Jones. “So we tried to spread the field and spread them out so it would open up the middle.”

Meadowview began to move the ball and Hayes hooked up on a long pass to a Meadowview receiver who hauled it in inside the Eastwood 5-yard line, but fumbled it away after the catch.

The fumble was costly, but Meadowview’s defense held giving them another shot, which they capitalized on with Hayes sneaking the ball in from 2-yards out.

The extra point was blocked, but the touchdown drew Meadowview closer to within striking distance.

“We finally woke up in the second half and started moving the ball,” Jones said. “We acted like we wanted to win the second half.”

And win they almost did. After recovering a fumble on the Warrior 32-yard line, Hayes led the Trojans down the field with Hunter Harper taking a handoff from Hayes and running through defenders from 4-yards out for a touchdown.

Jones decided to go for a 2-point conversion, saying his kicker had gotten hit in the eye earlier in the game, but the attempt failed leaving the Trojans behind, 13-12.

“We came up about a foot short,” Jones said. “We played hard the second half, we just have to put two halves together. I think we had the better team.”

Meadowview travels to LaFayette to take on the Chambers Academy Rebels Friday.