Graves receives first loss to Mayfield in Battle of the Birds

Bekah Courtney, Sports Co-Editor|September 25, 2013

PILE+ON--+The+Eagles+fight+hard%2C+but+come+up+short+against+Mayfield+at+Saturdays+Battle+of+the+Birds.

Bekah Courtney

PILE ON– The Eagles fight hard, but come up short against Mayfield at Saturday’s Battle of the Birds.

Saturday Sept. 21 at War Memorial Stadium, the Mayfield Cardinals hosted cross-town rival Graves County in a 49-21 victory over the Eagles. The Cardinals have won the last five meetings at “The Battle of the Birds” and are 16-5 overall against the Eagles.

After a come-from-behind win last week against Tilghman, Graves hoped to carry that momentum into this week’s game. However, that was not the case as the Eagles took their first loss of the 2013 season. Getting off to a slow start, the Eagles turned the ball over on downs on the opening drive and Mayfield answered back with a touchdown. The Eagles got the ball back, but quickly gave it back to the Cardinals who scored again making it 14-0. With 1:34 left in the first quarter, Peyton Puckett connected with Zach Kimbler on a 19-yard pass to put the Eagles down by only a touchdown.

While the Eagles went scoreless in the third quarter, Mayfield scored two touchdowns in seven minutes pulling away from the Eagles and going in at the half up 28-7. The Eagles received the ball on the opening kickoff, so the Cardinals opened up the second half going three and out to hand the ball back to the Eagles.

On a fourth down conversion with 7:32 left in the quarter, Puckett threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jake Williams to bring the Eagles within 14. Mayfield responded back with a touchdown to make the score 35-14. Joey Marshall came out on the kickoff scoring a 94-yard touchdown to move the Eagles within two touchdowns. After gaining some momentum, the Eagles returned to kickoff and Mayfield’s Deon Jackson ran the ball back for a 95-yard touchdown with 4:10 left in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was very silent for both the Eagles and the Cardinals as the only touchdown came with 1:14, when Mayfield ran a five-yard touchdown to put the game away.

With a final score of 49-21, the Eagles headed back to Eagle Field disappointed but prevailed. Next week, the Eagles head to Apollo High School hoping to start district play 1-0. As the Eagles look to move on from this loss, the team can hold its head high, being ranked number ten in class 5A football.

BREAK ON THROUGH-- Number 4 Senior Corey Cope and the Eagles refuse a loss of momentum as they look forward to traveling to Apollo High School this Friday.
BREAK ON THROUGH– Number 4 Senior Corey Cope and the Eagles refuse a loss of momentum as they look forward to traveling to Apollo High School this Friday.