Recap: Talawanda football rides passing game and stifling defense to 38-6 victory over Eaton

A brief rainstorm may have soaked the bleachers of Talawanda High School Stadium on Friday, but it didn’t dampen any spirits in Oxford. 

The Talawanda High School football team took on the Eaton Eagles, looking to not just remain undefeated for the season, but to beat their rival for the second time in two years. 

On the first drive of the game, the Brave took a step in the right direction for accomplishing that goal. The Eagles kick-off didn’t fly very far, and their defense was put in a poor position early. A six-play drive led by junior and sophomore running back duo, Ethan Hainline and Brody Abney, ended in six points on the board from the former on a hand-off at the 10-yard line. A converted point-after attempt (PAT) by senior kicker Brayden Kent put the Brave up 7-0 early.

The Talawanda defense began what was another excellent showing by forcing the Eaton offense to punt on their first drive, allowing senior wide receiver Camar Ellis to run out a 37-yard punt return to the Eaton 45-yard line. The passing game jumped into action with sophomore quarterback Jake Van Gorden tossing 36 yards of offense to senior tight end Joey Beckett, reaching the 5-yard line. After a couple of failed attempts at running the ball into the endzone, senior quarterback Oliver Bennett finally found a hole and punched the ball through for another six points. Kent sent another through the uprights to put the Brave up 14-0 on their first two possessions of the game. 

Eaton’s offense, looking for a response to the early scores, chose the run game and saw big yardage with junior running back Sawyer Keating breaking away for a game-high 32 yards. But the Brave defense was unfazed. Eaton sophomore quarterback Isaiah Goeke overthrew a receiver deep for what could have been a touchdown, and after a stuffed run, sophomore defensive lineman Bryton Vaughn forced the Eagles to punt once more with a sack.

Talwanda got the ball back, and Van Gorden went right back to Beckett, who hauled in a pass for 24 yards before Ellis caught his first pass of the night for 19 yards. This put Talawanda in an excellent position at the end of the first quarter up 14-0.

Nothing came for the Brave as the drive continued over in the second quarter, and Eaton’s corresponding offensive possession saw no points on the board, so it was back on the home team to put points on the board. They achieved this via Kent’s only field goal of the night following three caught passes for 51 total yards by Ellis.

Up 17-0, the Brave offense was flowing seamlessly, and the defense wasn’t letting the Eagles breathe. Everything was going their way, and it would continue on the next defensive possession, thanks to sophomore defensive back J.B. Brechin. 

With 3:27 remaining in the half, Brechin anticipated a screen pass from Goeke and picked it off, sprinting 44 yards down the visitors sideline and into the end zone, putting the Brave up 24-0. 

The score would remain the same through to halftime.

On Eaton’s first drive of the second half, they saw their offensive work finally pay off. The Eagles received the ball and worked methodically down to the Brave goal line before junior running back Sawyer Keating took in a 3-yard pass from Goeke for the score. Head coach Brad Davis elected to try a 2-point conversion, but a pass broken up by senior defensive back Kendrick Fox stifled the attempt.

After the Eaton score, Talawanda punched right back. A 41-yard kickoff return from Ellis put the Brave in excellent position once again. Van Gorden continued to ride the hot hand(s). Ellis brought in a pass for 16 yards on 3rd and 13 and made another catch on a perfectly placed ball over his shoulder on the subsequent throw for a touchdown to make the score 31-6 Talawanda.

Eaton showed another sign of offensive life on the ensuing drive, but despite a 32-yard reception from junior Wyatt Himes to put them on the 18-yard line, the Eagles turned the ball over on downs. Ellis added another 35 yards, Beckett caught his sixth reception of the night, and on fourth down the Brave offense converted, thanks to Van Gorden and Ellis once again connecting on a 15-yard pass to set up 1st and Goal on the 6-yard line. Abney punched it in for another touchdown – his fourth of the season.

The clock ran down to zeroes, and the two teams shook hands at midfield with Talawanda coming out victorious 38-6. Van Gorden walked away with 15 completions for 257 yards and one touchdown, while his partner-in-crime for the night, Ellis, was just 10 yards short of the single-game school record with 164. He also added a combined 78 yards on punt and kick returns.

“(Camar and I) just lock eyes and go to work,” Van Gorden said. “(In the) offseason we put in a ton of one-on-one work, and it shows. You just love to get out here and have it finally pay off.”

Despite what the scoreboard said, Brave Head Coach Andy Stuckert pointed out that there’s still a long way to go for this team to clean up some of their mistakes, but the effort was there, and praising the defense was top priority.

“Honestly, (it was) a little bit sloppy,” Stuckert said. “I know that sounds greedy because we got a W, and I feel like we got it against a good opponent, but we still have a lot to clean up and it’s scaring me a little bit. Every week, I’m like, ‘We’ll fix it next week,’ but we’re running out of weeks to get it fixed.”

“Our defense is just playing lights out right now, so shoutout to that staff. Cortez McGinnis does a great job, and our defense does a great job. They just get better every week,” Stuckert said.

Talawanda moves to 3-0 on the season as Eaton falls to 2-1. The Brave will take the field next on Friday, Sept. 11 at Franklin High School at 7:00 p.m.