Eagle football had 0 passing yards in a battle for first place. It didn’t need any
Eagle quarterback Jake Longson’s only completion Friday night traveled a foot and resulted in no yards. But that’s just fine with him.
The Mustangs ran the ball early, often and with little resistance Friday, racking up 477 yards en route to a 45-14 home win over Nampa that moved Eagle into a tie for first place in the 5A SIC River Division.
Longson led the onslaught on the ground, running for 180 yards and four touchdowns. Senior running back Roy Hull added 176 yards and a score.
“We came into this game and were like, ‘We’re running it through their throats,’” Longson said. “So, honestly, I’m fine with that because the run was working. I ran for (nearly) 200 yards, and we smashed it down their throats and beat them by 31 points.”
Friday night represented a breakthrough for both Longson and No. 5-ranked Eagle (3-2, 3-0 5A SIC River). The Mustangs’ offense had yet to click through the opening month, and Longson split time under center just two weeks ago.
But the elusive runner cemented himself as the Mustangs’ starter Friday, running Eagle’s option offense with lethal efficiency.
“I’m really proud of Jake,” Hull said. “Honestly, he’s had a lot of doubters. I remember even hearing around the school, people are like, ‘Is Jake going to be doing good?’
“Jake made a statement tonight.”
Eagle wasted little time enforcing its will as Ian Duarte took the Mustangs’ first offensive play for a 55-yard touchdown. He caught a swing pass that actually traveled backward — thus counting as a run — hit the corner and left a host of Nampa (3-2, 3-1) defenders in his dust.
Eagle’s Tristan Walker then grabbed an interception on the next play from scrimmage, handing the ball back to the Mustangs’ offense. Two plays later, Longson broke free on an option keeper up the middle for 47 yards to the end zone.
The rout was on.
Eagle averaged 10.4 yards per carry. Longson’s lone completion came on a shovel pass to Duarte that went nowhere. But it hardly mattered as the Mustangs ripped off chunk plays at will, a stark contrast from an offense that averaged 18 points over its first four games.
“All we keep seeing in the paper is how bad our offense is, and rightfully so,” Eagle coach John Hartz said. “We haven’t put up the numbers.
“We’ve played some really good defenses. … But we have a really good offensive line coach. And we felt like, man, at some point this is gonna break out if we keep at it.”
The offensive explosion also came with Eagle missing a key weapon. The Mustangs lost starting running back Deegan Martinho for the season with a torn ACL last week. But Hull said he still made an impact.
“He gave us a speech at the start of this week,” Hull said. “He was just like, ‘Play every play and don’t take anything for granted.’
“It really got me emotional, and I was definitely playing that game for Deegan.”
5A SIC RIVER DIVISION RACE HEATS UP
Friday’s victory left Eagle and No. 4-ranked Mountain View (3-2, 3-0) as the only remaining undefeated teams in 5A SIC River Division play.
The two meet Oct. 7 at Eagle in a game that likely will decide who wins the division and advances to the 5A SIC championship game.
Nampa surprised nearly everyone by taking an early division lead after finishing 12th out of 13 teams in the 5A SIC preseason coaches’ poll. The Bulldogs are not eliminated, but they’ll need help now and will have to beat Mountain View in the regular-season finale.
NAMPA LEADERS
Daniel Carrillo ran for 51 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns as Nampa avoided the shutout. The 5A classification’s leading rusher also caught two passes for 18 yards.
Nampa quarterback Gabe Navarro finished 8-for-15 for 89 yards and two interceptions, and he ran for 31 yards.
UP NEXT
Eagle: The Mustangs look for their first road win with a trip to Dona Larsen Park to play Boise (2-3, 0-3) on Thursday.
Nampa: The Bulldogs try to bounce back and stay in the division title race with a road trip to Owyhee (3-3, 1-3) on Friday.
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 11:30 PM.
