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EUREKA — The Eureka Hornets had plenty of ups, but one too many downs in a showdown Friday for a conference championship.
Eureka lost 29-12 as Downs Tri-Valley clinched the Heart of Central Illinois (Large) Conference championship in a battle between two teams unbeaten in conference play.
Eureka was 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference as it hosted Tri-Valley (6-1, 5-0) on Friday. The Hornets had allowed just 28 points in their previous five games — including three shutouts — before the Vikings came in. Downs left with its fourth straight win in the series.
“When two good football teams play, you gotta execute well,” Eureka coach Jason Bachman said. “We did a lot of good things, had a lot of good moments in this game. We had a lot of opportunities to come back. But we had an opening kickoff fumble, didn’t get a possession we expected to have.
“Later we allowed a touchdown on a kickoff return right after we scored.”
An early hole
Eureka fumbled the opening kickoff at its 23, and Tri-Valley recovered and cashed in three plays later on a 3-yard TD run by quarterback Cole Klein.
Eureka followed with a nine-play drive that ended on a fourth-and-1 stop on the Tri-Valley 8. The Hornets got it back four plays later when Ben Lapp picked off Klein at the 38.
The Vikings went up 15-0 when Klein raced 41 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Eureka pushed back on the ensuing possession when senior quarterback Austin Gerber tossed a 54-yard pass to senior Tory Kupferschmid to the Tri-Valley 1.
Gerber raced around the right edge two plays later from the 2 to get Eureka on the board at 15-6.
But Tri-Valley senior Cade Danko took the following kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown and 22-6 lead with 6:22 left in the half.
“That changed the momentum,” Bachman said. “It gapped us a little bit, gave (Tri-Valley) the feeling…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ihsa-football-scores-eureka-didnt-052403441.html
Author : Journal Star
Publish date : 2024-10-19 05:24:03
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