The Lions and Mavericks were locked up as they started their battle on Cervetto Field Friday, Sept. 18 leading to a scoreless first quarter of football.
Head football coach/ athletic director Greg Hardcastle was pleased with how the Pride was playing, getting the ball down near the end zone but the home team wasn’t able to convert before the second quarter when Eastland started playing more aggressively on defense.
Hardcastle said the Lions have several younger players in the roster and some injuries have resulted in players stepping up to fill roles.
Eastland capitalized on this in an aggressive second quarter.
“The kids kept battling,” Harcastle said. “By the fourth quarter, we were starting to move the ball better.”
Before the buzzer sounded, Paxton Loper and Jaiden Gauna scored two touchdowns followed by successful PATs. The game ended 55-14 in Eastland’s favor.
Kyler Gaitan had 12 solo tackles in the game and 4 sacks while Jax Johnson had 11 tackles, five of them solo.
Cayson Loving had 8 tackles and a sack while amassing 59 yards in rushing.
Other defensive leaders were Jaiden Gauna with 9 tackles, Hudsen Joslin with 6 and Joe Salinas with 5.
Harcastle said they continue to work on consistency with the players and hopes to have some return from the injured list as they travel to face Millsap Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. (JV will play Millsap at home Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. A combined junior high game will also be at Millsap Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.)
Hardcastle said Millsap has been in the same system for a few years. While the Lions kind of has an idea of what they will do Friday night, they are working on both sides of the game so they can be ready for the fight.