Eastern Pike Pulls Away In 2nd Half For 36-20 Win at Southeastern

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The Eastern Pike Eagles have gotten out of the 2023 starting gate with a (3-0) record, following a 36-20 win at Southeastern Friday night.

The Eagles Braylon Lamerson got the ball rolling by intercepting a Southeastern pass in what looked like a game opening scoring drive for the Panthers, returning the pick to the Southeastern 3 yard line. Eastern would score on the next play, thanks to a TD run by Brewer Tomlison. The two-point conversion run by Teagan Werner gave the Eagles an 8-0 start with 6:45 of the opening quarter.

Southeastern responded with another long drive, scoring at 1:46 of the first quarter on a Joey Pfeifer pass to Gage Cheadle to cap a 10 play/63 yard drive. The two-point conversion try failed, leaving Eastern with a 8-6 lead.

That leaded extended to 16-6 as Eastern marched 65 yards on 7 plays, capped off by a Landyn Reinsmith 17 yard scamper and a two-point conversion pass from Dylan Morton to Teagan Werner.

Southeastern closed the deficit to 16-12 with 54 seconds left in the first half, driving 70 yards in 15 plays. Ryan Peters scored on a 4 yard run, but their two-point try failed, leaving that score as the halftime margin of four points.

Eastern started to distance themselves from the Panthers with two unanswered scores in the third quarter. The first was a 59 yard/8 play drive with a Landyn Reinsmith 2 yard run, with the two-point conversion failing for a 22-12 lead at 7:18 left in the quarter. The Panthers next drive ended badly, when a shanked punt went out of bounds at their own 12 yard line. That left the Eagles with a 2 play drive with Jace White running for the score and a 29-12 lead at 4:07 in the third, when Morton kicked the extra point.

Southeastern answered with one last score to cut the deficit to 29-20, driving 64 yards in 7 plays and capped off by a Pfeifer to Cheadle 19 yard scoring strike and a two-point conversion.

After Southeastern stopped Eastern’s next drive at the Eagles 35, Dylan Morton saved the day by blasting a 65 yard punt to the Southeastern 2 yard line. The Panthers were left with few options that deep in their own territory, throwing an interception that gave the Eagles a short field scoring drive of 30 yards in 4 plays, with Jace White scampering 12 yards for the score. The PAT kick rounded out the final score at 36-20.

Eastern racked up 310 total yards, with 179 passing from Dylan Morton. That performance along with his 65 yard punt in a critical situation, earned him the McDonald’s Player of the Game.

Southeastern compiled 358 total yards with Joey Pfeifer completing 16 passes for 183 yards.

(3-0) Eastern hosts Fayetteville next Friday, while (1-2) Southeastern opens SVC play vs Paint Valley, who beat McClain 29-15.