Brock Netter, Editor
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Eastern felt a level of disrespect throughout this past week.
And the Eagles took all of that negativity and put forth, unquestionably, their most dominant performance of the season on Friday.
Behind a four-touchdown night from Eric Manley, the Eagles never took their foot off the gas pedal in a rout of Symmes Valley by a 40-6 final.
“The guys were incredibly focused. We had plenty of locker room material for this undefeated matchup and we love being the underdog,” Eastern coach Scott Tomlison said. “This was all about sending a message to the league and to Division VII. We didn’t build this program just to beat teams in our conference and win league titles, which is a great accomplishment. We built it with the goal in mind to make it to the next level and the kids are starting to get it now.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
Manley was dialed in from the opening play, and the Eagles (7-0, 2-0 SOC I) routinely decided to push the ball down the field.
Whether it was Boston Webb, Carson Peters, Trey Kelly, Jack Montgomery or Benjamin Bower on the receiving end, Manley was determined to get the ball to his guys as he finished 11-of-17 passing for 290 yards, alongside three touchdowns and another on the ground.
“It’s different this year. We’ve worked all offseason to build that chemistry and never took a day off,” Manley said. “We’re only going to get better as the season goes on. Beefing up our non-conference schedule definitely helped prepare us for games like these ones and beyond.”
After Symmes Valley (6-1, 1-1 SOC I) punted on its first possession, the Eagles went right to work. Operating with a short field, they needed just five plays before Montgomery found the end zone on an eight-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
Symmes Valley turned the ball over on downs, and Eastern took advantage. Set up by passes of 39 and 15 yards to Kelly, Brewer Tomlison got the handoff and scored on a one-yard plunge to go up 14-0 after the first quarter.
After forcing another punt, Manley aired the ball out and found Peters deep for a 58-yard pass connection. Two plays later, he called his own number and found the end zone on a five-yard run to make it 21-0.
PHOTOS: Images from Eastern’s win over Symmes Valley
Already with momentum on their side, the Eagles continued to pile on as Manley put the perfect touch on a throw and found Kelly in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass, extending the edge to 28-0.
The offense was having fun, but it was then the defense’s turn to create some chaos.
After Symmes Valley had driven to Eastern’s one-yard line, it was stuffed on first and second downs, and lost two yards on third down. The fourth down try saw the Vikings lose three more yards and turn the ball over, again, with less than two minutes left.
“Judging by the film, we knew that we were one of the more athletic teams so we switched up our defensive game plan and played man-to-man,” Tomlison said. “We talked about not giving them any spots in the zone, simply getting up in them and letting our defensive line eat. Our guys did a great job of making him uncomfortable and scramble to try to make plans.”
That was more than enough time for the Eagles to score, too.
Manley aired it out twice to Webb for gains of 24 and 46 yards, setting up Bower to be on the receiving end of a 30-yard touchdown to make it 34-0 at halftime.
The Eagles added another touchdown in the fourth when Manley connected with Montgomery on a swing pass for a 21-yard score, while Symmes Valley scored on the final play of the game when Bronx Carpenter found a hole for a 25-yard rushing touchdown.
“Our offensive line deserves a lot of credit. They gave Eric all kinds of time to sit back and go through his progressions to make the right plays,” Tomlison said. “We’ve made a lot of adjustments as a team off of those non-conference games and figured some things out. The kids are playing really well.”
Kelly finished with five catches for 93 yards and a touchdown while Montgomery had 12 carries for 64 yards and a score, alongside his receiving touchdown. Bower added a 30-yard touchdown catch.
Eastern returns to action on Friday for an undefeated showdown at Notre Dame, while Symmes Valley faces off against East at home.
“It’ll be a tough task to slow down [ND’s] Luke Cassidy. He’s such a great athlete and a really good player,” Tomlison said. “In our opinion, we feel like Notre Dame is a better team than Symmes Valley, so we’ll have to prepare a little tougher than we did this past week.”
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