GAMEDAY CENTRAL

WEEK EIGHT – ANTONIAN STADIUM, SAN ANTONIO

Eagle Football 41
San Antonio Antonian College Prep 27

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Quarterback Maddox Kopp ‘21 threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns in a first half detonation where St. Thomas plastered points on its first four series and coasted to a convincing 41-27 dismantling in a game not nearly as close as the final indicated.

The lopsided verdict gives the surging Eagles (5-3) a fifth win in six games and a 2-0 sprint into the district race.

TURNING POINT
The blazing Red & White roadshow featured more MCs than Wu-Tang Clan as the Eagles flipped two turnovers into a pair of first quarter touchdowns.

 

A 40-yard interception return to the end zone from All-State safety Daniel Coco ‘20 pushed the count to 17-0 as Antonian (4-3, 0-1) was losing equity faster than Lehman Brothers in 2008.

DEJA BOOM
The third St. Thomas “Unicorn” sighting this season flashed with 2:06 remaining in the opening stanza – the same perfecto play call and execution that cemented earlier wins over Kinkaid and Stafford.

 

Kopp again delivered a dart in the left flat to receiver Spencer Kryger ‘20 for a lateral that caused a confused Antonian secondary to overcommit and allowed Bonner to escape deep into isolation coverage. Bonner (4 catches for 121 yards) secured the grab, spun away from a lone tackler and pulled away into the end zone for a commanding 24-0 advantage.

ROCKING IN THE FREE WORLD
The gnarly, ornery, oppressive Eagle defense came within a minute of posting its third straight first half shutout, forcing five punts around Coco’s takeaway return before surrendering the only Antonian first half points on a short field following a blocked punt.

RAPID REACTION

 

¡UNO! ¡DOS! ¡TRE!
In the final half minute before halftime, Kopp found Kryger alone in the middle of the field and lofted a high arcing toss that resulted in a 70-yard breakaway touchdown and a 38-6 budge at the break.

 

Running back John Fontenot ‘21 carried 24 times for 90 tough, between the tackle yards and a second period nine-yard touchdown for 31-0.

Kicker Paul Langemeier ‘20 continued to his thunder foot season with a pair of 28-yard field goals.

WEEK EIGHT || FIRST HALF

WEEK EIGHT || SECOND HALF

PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT
Kopp connected twice with Bonner for touchdowns and added another scoring toss to Drake Martinez ‘21 two seconds before halftime as Eagle Football dominated a name-your-score 31-7 destruction of Tomball Concordia Lutheran.

Bonner broke loose for quick six grabs of 37 and 79 yards on a night he proved untouchable and the best player on the field with 237 receiving yards. The Eagles flared the defensive equivalent of Joaquin Phoenix’s menacing Joker, posting its second consecutive first half shutout and setting the tone for the fourth win in five games.

STATE OF PLAY
This was the night Eagle Football showed what it could be.

The lethal passing attack averaged more than 21 yards a completion and featured three touchdown series that required all of seven snaps.  The newly forged salty defensive identity led by marauding linebacker Cooper Thomas ‘20 and twin terror in destruction Max Garcia ’20 tackled with an edge and simply played harder and more motivated than any of the units in recent years.

 

The result was a decisive and demonstrative pummeling, a swift and mighty combination of punches that rendered the second half largely unnecessary. There was no disputing the details. The Eagles thoroughly pounded Antonian in what was declared the pivot point game of the season, a statement victory that supplies reasonable satisfaction about the outcome they had to have midway through the district chase.

UPCOMING
The Eagles conclude their regular season home slate with a contest against a San Antonio Central Catholic (4-3, 1-0) outfit fresh from an off week and a 56-27 takedown of St. Pius X.

Eagle Football owns consecutive head-to-head knocks in a series that has transitioned from non-district to district competition since 2017. Two years ago, quarterback Peyton Matocha ‘19 (University of Miami) connected with receiver Hunter Cheek ‘19 (University of the Incarnate Word) with an ad lib touchdown in the right corner of the end zone in the final five minutes to complete a frantic fourth-period comeback and a 31-28 victory.

The return to Bob Benson ‘66 Stadium in San Antonio featured the most complete effort of 2018 – a 49-21 bodyslam that included an offensive tsunami of sustained touchdown drives and quicksilver scoring strikes and a suffocating defense that set the big-play tone with its first touchdown of the season for the first points of the game.

Eagle Fight Never Dies!