Local Sports
Eagles fly to victories
JIM TAYLOR
Published: October 10, 2012
AVON PARK - – All five teams of the Highlands Eagles Youth Football League added another notch in the win column on Saturday against the Tampa North Buccaneers on their homecoming day.Published: October 10, 2012
Two of those wins were forfeits as the Flag and Mitey Mite teams of the Buccaneers cancelled their games on Friday evening.
The Eagles took care of business as the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams both improved their records to 8-0 and the Pee Wee team improved to 6-2 with their win.
The Flag team improved to 6-2 by virtue of the forfeit. The Mitey Mites got their second win of the year without having to touch the field as their record is now 2-6.
The Pee Wee teams started off the day and it quickly became a one man show as Kasey Hawthorne all five touchdowns for the Eagles as they beat the Buccaneers 31-0.
Hawthorne scored his touchdown on the second play from scrimmage on a 33-yard run on a sweep on the right side to put the Eagles up 7-0. He added a second touchdown midway through the first quarter on a 45-yard run to put the Eagles up 13-0.
In the second quarter, Hawthorne found two other ways to score touchdowns. On the first play, he intercepted a pass and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles up 19-0.
Midway through the second quarter, Hawthorne scooped up a fumble by the Buccaneers and ran it back for 55 yards to give the Eagles a 25-0 halftime lead.
Neither team scored in the third quarter as the game went into the final stanza with the Eagles still leading 25-0.
With six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Hawthorne scored his fifth touchdown of the game when he picked up an Eagle offensive fumble at the 3-yard line and took it into the end zone.
That was the final score of the game as the Pee Wee Eagles won 31-0 to improve their record for the season to 6-2.
The Junior Varsity teams played the second game of the day.
The Eagle offense appeared to be flat to start the game, but still managed to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 10-yard run by Akem Inpierre.
Quarterback Cleotis Harris III scored early in the second quarter on a 3-yard run to put the Eagles up 13-0. Neither team was able to put points on the board for the rest of the half and they went into the intermission with the score still at 13-0 in the Eagles favor.
Two minutes into the third quarter, Harris connected with Inpierre on a 50-yard touchdown pass that put the Eagles up 20-0.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Rafael Smith returned a Buccaneer fumble for 20 yards and a touchdown to give the Eagles a commanding 26-0 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Jalen Williams capped off the scoring for the Eagles in the halfway through the fourth quarter to make the final score 33-0.
With the win the Junior Varsity team remains undefeated at 8-0 for the season.
The Varsity Eagles did not have it as easy as the Pee Wee and Junior Varsity teams.
The game remained scoreless three minutes into the second quarter when the Eagles were awarded a safety.
The Buccaneers were on their one and ran the ball to the left. On the play, they were called for holding in the end zone that awarded the safety to the Eagles for a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles were able to capitalize on the safety when they got the ball back on the kickoff by the Buccaneers. A few seconds later, Donte Carpenter threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Malik Taylor. With the two point conversion, the Eagles led 10-0.
The Buccaneers rallied back at the end of the first half, scoring on a 7-yard run to cut into the Eagle's lead 10-7.
On the first play in the fourth quarter, Carpenter ran the ball in from two yards to put the Eagles up 16-7.
Neither team managed to score again as the Eagles held on for the 16-7 win and improve their record to 8-0 for the season.
On Saturday, the Highlands Eagles will travel to face the Plant City Eagles, which should make for an interesting day for the announcer as Eagles play Eagles.