This past Friday night, the Ropes Eagles took care of business in their homecoming game against Sudan, winning 55-13, to improve to 2-1 on the season.
The blowout win was a tale of two halves, as the halftime score was 19-13 and to that point the game was really competitive.
But that changed in the second half when Ropes scored 36 unanswered points to close the game, which Head Coach Beau Riker provided insight on.
“We started really good in the first quarter and we kind of let off the gas. I think sometimes we get satisfied with our play, and we've got to come in every play and win the next. We took our foot off the gas pedal midway through the first and it showed on the scoreboard,' Rikersaid. “We've got to continue to win in the trenches in the second half. We came in and really relied on our linemen to move the ball offensively and then stopped the run in the box. We got better today.”
The Eagles were seemingly unstoppable in the second half and Coach Riker noted that there wasn’t a special halftime speech to make that happen, but simply just the coaches getting feedback from the players, scheming for the second half and encouraging them to go execute.
One player that executed from start to finish was senior running back Ryland Keith, who had four rushing touchdowns on the night.
It was a special performance for Kieth as he had 238 rushing yards and two-touchdown runs that went 50-plus yards long, which were plays where he broke many tackles while also juking and stiff-arming defenders.
“We rely on that young man, he’s a workhorse. He never turns it down, he’s always willing to do whatever it takes for the team,” Rikersaid. “He’s not selfish, whether it was him making the big plays or somebody else, he’s always going to do his job every play, and that’s what really makes him special. He’s a great young man with great character and I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Keith led the way offensively, but he had several teammates who also contributed to the Eagles big offensive showing.
Junior Zavden Pittman had a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown to senior Kade Franklin, while Kolter Dockery and Jaivyth Cruz also had touchdown runs.
On the defensive side of the ball. Ropes surrendered two explosive plays for touchdowns in the first half but completely shut down Sudan the rest of the game, which is something Coach Riker addressed.
“Defensively, I thought we got after the ball a little bit. We’ve got to continue to create turnovers, and when the balls in the air, it’s got to be ours. On their first touchdown, we’ve got to get our hands on their tight end. He got a free release down the seam and it’s tough on our safeties when they get a free release, so we’ve got to get our hands on them and slow them down,” Riker said. “On the second one, we’ve got to get some pressure. Our mentality is we want the ball out of the quarterback’s hands; he had too long to throw it. They got it over the lop of our safety, which should never Iiappen from our safety’s standpoint, but take those two plays away, we have a great night. Defensively, we’ve got to clean it up and come back ready next week.”
They'll look to eliminate the explosive plays given up moving forward, but overall, the defense can be proud of a night where they forced countless three-and-outs, while also recording several tackles for losses and sacks.
The Eagles defensive player standouts included junior linebacker Cason Kucel who recorded 13 total tackles w ith two tackles for loss and a sack and senior defensive lineman Jackson I xhnen who recorded 15 total tackles with otie sack, three tackles for loss and a forced and recovered fumble.
Along with them, senior nose guard Victor Saenz recorded 13 total tackles with five tackles for loss and sophomore linebacker Britton Mitchell had seven total tackles with a sack and a tackle for loss.
The Eagles defense filled the stat sheet up in the blowout win and not just them, but the team as a whole can take the momentum from the big win into their next game against the Olton Mustangs, who arc 1 -2 and coming off a loss.
They notably lost to Sudan earlier in the season, 19-7, so Ropes will have another opportunity to dominate once again this week on the road at Olton on Friday at 7:00pm.