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Como-Pickton running back Cameron Ray (No. 5) tries to evade James Bowie defender in the Eagles 17-0 season opening win. Ray rushed for 189 yards on 25 carries in the game. Staff photo by Todd Kleiboer
Ray runs for 189 yards
COMO-PICKTON—The Como-Pickton Eagles hosted the James Bowie Pirates Friday for their season opener. The Eagles entered the game looking for their first season opening win since 2017.
Como-Pickton won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving James Bowie the ball first. The Eagles defense came to play early, getting a quick three and out, forcing the Pirates to punt.
Como-Pickton opened their first drive on their own 48-yard line and marched their way into opposing territory on the first play, when running back Cameron Ray rushed for a 18-yard gain. The Eagles drove inside the 10-yard line before being stopped on the Pirates’ 8-yard line. Coach Ronnie Green
Coach Ronnie Green called on his kicker, Avelardo Villa, to come in and attempt the short field goal. Villa’s kick was good, and the Eagles took a 3-0 lead with 7:47 remaining in the first quarter. James Bowie’s next
James Bowie’s next drive took much of the remainder of the quarter, but despite holding the ball for for over seven minutes, Como-Pickton was able to force the Pirates to punt once again.
The second quarter saw both teams showcasing their defensive abilities, with neither team allowing the other into opposing territory. The Eagles almost caught a break midway through the second quarter, when they recovered a muffed punt inside the Pirates’ 10-yard line, but a late running into the kicker flag gave the Pirates a first down and continued their drive.
Como-Pickton got the ball back with 1:39 remaining in the half but were unable to move the ball past their own 26-yard line. The Eagles went into the locker room, leading 3-0 at halftime.
The Eagles got the ball to open the second half and began their drive on their 38-yard line. It was a long, methodical drive that required the Eagles to pick up a pair of first downs on third and 2. After driving into the Pirates’ 10-yard line, Ray ran in a touchdown that would be called back due to holding.
After a 10-yard penalty, Como-Pickton marched their way back towards the end zone and scored on a quarterback keep from Jhonathan Mejia. Braden Miller successfully ran in the 2-point conversion to push the Eagles’ lead to 11-0 with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
James Bowie began their drive at the 25-yard line and used up most of the quarter before fumbling on the Como-Pickton 35-yard line. Jackson Monk recovered the fumble for Como-Pickton, and the Eagles got the ball back to start the fourth quarter.
The Eagles wasted no time adding to their lead, scoring another touchdown with 8:18 left to push their lead to 17-0. Kade Kaslon ran the ball in for Como-Pickton, his first touchdown of the new season.
Como-Pickton was able to shutout James Bowie for the remainder of the quarter and picked up their first win of the new campaign, 17-0. Ray was the leading
Ray was the leading rusher for the Eagles, picking up an impressive 189 yards. He did so on 25 carries, giving him an average of 7.56 yards per attempt.
Leading the way defensively was Monk. On top of his fumble recovery that led to an Eagles touchdown, Monk also had 10 total tackles, with four of them being for a loss of yards. Mejia also had 10 tackles in the game.
Como-Pickton announced early Tuesday that due to confirmed positive COVID tests amongst their players, they will be cancelling all football practices and games for the next 14 days. Their next scheduled game will be their homecoming game against Tom Bean on Sept. 18. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m..