Blue Devils Drop First Game Of Season To Eupora, 52 – 28
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Derion Gale backed up Zae Bradford as the signal caller during Thursday’s game against Eupora.
WATER VALLEY – Eupora’s quarterback Peyton Perkins proved unstoppable Thursday night at Bobby Clark Field, rushing for 293 yards in the game including breaking off back-breaking runs whenever Water Valley seemed to settle in. The result was a 52-28 loss for the Blue Devils, their first defeat of the season after opening 3-0.
The night started with Water Valley winning the toss and electing to kick, a decision that gave the Eagles the ball first and set the tone for what was coming. Eupora opened at its own 20, picked up a first down on the first play with a quarterback keeper, then watched their signal caller calmly move the chains again. Facing third-and-one near midfield, he tucked the ball and slipped through for another fresh set of downs. On the very next snap, he lofted a pass deep downfield for a 52-yard touchdown. Just three minutes in, Eupora led 6-0 after the two-point try failed.
The Blue Devils fired back immediately. Tre Adams fielded the kickoff at the 30 and carried it to the 40. Bradford, starting at quarterback, kept the ball twice for short gains and then found Derion Gale on a sideline route that came up three yards short of the sticks. Coach Faust kept the offense on the field. On fourth down, Adams took the handoff around the home sideline, made one cut, and sprinted 51 yards untouched. Gabe Butler’s extra point gave Water Valley a 7-6 lead with 8:24 left in the first quarter — the only time the Devils would be ahead all night.
From there Eupora’s quarterback began to grind them down. Starting from his own 37, he ripped off a 12-yard keeper and kept extending plays with his legs. A 24-yard pass moved the ball inside the 15, and after a 10-yard rush set up first-and-goal at the one, he snuck across himself. This time the two-point conversion was good and Eupora was up 14-7 with 4:48 left in the quarter.
Water Valley looked ready to answer again. Adams powered runs of four, 16, and 12 yards, and Freeman turned a short pass into another first down. But the drive sputtered inside the 25. A sack and a tangle of penalties — including an unsportsmanlike call and offsetting face masks — backed the Devils up. On fourth down Bradford’s pass sailed incomplete, and Eupora took over. On the first play of the second quarter, the quarterback faked a handoff and darted straight through the middle, racing 67 yards for a touchdown to make it 22-7.
The Devils nearly cut into the lead on the next series. Bradford hit Freeman on a 35-yard strike near midfield, then Mabary picked up a tough first down at the 17. But a ball fired into the end zone was picked off, and Eupora once again turned defense into offense. Their quarterback kept bouncing off tacklers, and on one third-and-long he broke free for a 60-yard score that made it 36-7 with 2:20 left before halftime.
Water Valley’s sideline didn’t fold. Bradford was shaken up, so Gale slid in under center, something the coaches had quietly worked on. He hit Page for a first down, then hooked up with Freeman on back-to-back throws. With under a minute left, Gale faced fourth-and-long but calmly dropped a ball into Freeman’s hands for a 34-yard catch at the five. Out of a timeout with five seconds left, Gale hit Adams in the flat for a five-yard touchdown. Butler added the kick and the Devils jogged into the locker room down 36-14.
Water Valley had the ball first in the second half and Gale scrambled for a first down, but a holding call erased the gain. A few snaps later, disaster struck when he tried to force a throw over the middle that was picked off and returned 53 yards the other way for a touchdown. The margin hit 36 points at 50-14, and under high school rules a running clock was triggered for the rest of the game.
Still, Faust’s team played hard to the end. Adams scored on a 19-yard run with 8:15 to play, then broke free again for a 39-yard sprint to the end zone in the final two minutes. He accounted for all four of Water Valley’s touchdowns, three on the ground and one receiving. Freeman added big plays in the passing game, and Gale handled the quarterback duties when called on.
But Faust’s postgame message was blunt. “They have a dude at quarterback, and I knew it,” he said. “We threw everything but the kitchen sink at them. We’ve got to have a little more want-to on defense. I saw some guys backpedaling when we should have been coming and attacking. Half their touchdowns were busted plays. We’ve got to have a guy in every gap and be gap-sound.”
He admitted his squad may have lost some edge after two straight wins over the Eagles. “They were hungry, and (Eupora) Coach Gray is a good coach. Maybe we got a little complacent. But it’s good it happened tonight and not the last game of the season. We’ve got some stuff to fix, and we’ll get there.”
Faust pointed out positives too. “Shaddai is a weapon, we probably need to get him the ball more,” he said. “And I thought Derion did a good job stepping in at quarterback when Tre had to go out. We’ve always had that in our back pocket.”
The Blue Devils now turn their attention to homecoming, where they’ll face Vardaman, a 1A squad at 1-3. It will be the first time the two schools have met in 50 years, and Water Valley will be looking to show its fans that one setback doesn’t define a season.
Water Valley’s Shaddai Freeman hauls in a pass during Thursday night’s game against Eupora at Bobby Clark Field. Freeman turned in several big plays in the Blue Devils’ 52-28 loss to the Eagles.
