Cedar Park Christian made a strong case for the revival of “three yards and a cloud of dust” after beating South Whidbey’s football team, 29-8, on Saturday night at Waterman’s Field.
Behind the legs of Eagles quarterback Jaden Sheffey, Cedar Park Christian’s Wing-T offense dominated time of possession and kept the Falcons on their heels for most of the game.
In the Eagles’ wake were a number of injuries suffered by South Whidbey.
The Falcons saw starters Jared Eckert, Max Divina, Courtney Dunnigan, and Austin Sterba relegated to the sidelines throughout the game. A total of seven Falcons were injured.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my life as a player or a coach,” said Falcon head coach Michael Coe. “Our depth is really hurting us, it’s really hurting us a lot.”
The Eagles got on the board first when Sheffey rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The Falcons went three-and-out the following drive, but Falcon junior middle linebacker Hunter Newman managed to control the damage when he recovered a fumble and returned it to the Eagles’ 29-yard line. Falcon senior quarterback Charlie Patterson converted a crucial third-and-15 to the Eagles’ 15, which later set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Sterba on fourth-and-4.
It went all downhill for South Whidbey from there.
Two Eagles possessions later, Cedar Park Christian chewed up four minutes and 58 seconds of game clock to score on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Sheffey to Andrew Britton to enter halftime leading 16-8.
Cedar Park Christian owned the third quarter, holding possession of the ball for 11 minutes and 11 seconds while adding another touchdown.
“They were just pushing the ball down the field,” Newman said.
The Falcons were unable to muster an offensive effort, and turnovers and penalties tripped them up throughout the rest of the game.
“I’m definitely disappointed about the loss,” Patterson said. “I feel like as a team, we’ve definitely tightened up a lot. Defensively, we were scrappy, we just didn’t make plays on third and fourth down. I feel like we’re really close to being that team that we can be.”
