Eden's Upset Bid Comes up Just Short Against No. 10 Blackwell

BLACKWELL, TX-- The Eden Bulldogs came up a quarter short of a massive upset against the state-ranked Blackwell Hornets on Saturday.

The Bulldogs trailed by 30 before storming back, looking to ruin Blackwell’s homecoming.

Eden took a slim lead going into the fourth quarter before Blackwell scored 18 points unanswered to win 54-40.

“I feel pretty good,” Bulldog head coach Clayton Garmon said. “We definitely wanted to win. We had a couple opportunities where we could’ve got it. We took a lead on them in the third quarter. I was proud...We told them our duty was to get better and compete. We did that. I’m super proud of our boys.”

The loss showed the Bulldogs have a solid foundation to build on going forward.

“It’s huge,” Garmon exclaimed of that foundation. “I don’t think anyone thought we were going to be as close as we were with these guys...We have a huge foundation of seniors. Instead of getting mopey, we’re just going to build.”

The Bulldogs opened the scoring against the Hornets when quarterback Hunner Rodgers found Anthony Moya for a 19-yard touchdown pass. An unsuccessful extra-point left the score at 6-0.

Blackwell then rattled off 36 unanswered points, including three touchdown passes from Michael Lowry, a safety and two short touchdown runs, to go up 36-6. The Hornets seemed to be on the way to a mercy rule win.

Eden then scored on a 6-yard pass from Rodgers to Moya and a 2-yard run by Donovan Gonzales to halve Blackwell’s lead at 36-18 to close out the half. Those consecutive drives, as well as an interception by Moya that followed, gave Eden momentum that carried into the third quarter.

That sequence of events was “huge” for the Bulldog’s comeback, according to Garmon.

“There was a lot of learning,” Garmon added. “Honestly, this is the first good test and we’re clicking. They gained some confidence.”

After an interception by Rodgers, the Bulldog defense proceeded to shut out Blackwell in the third quarter. Eden’s offense built on that by scoring 22 points in the third.

Trailing 36-26 in the third, Donovan Gonzales took a pitch on a free play after Blackwell jumped offsides. The Hornets were taking him to the ground before he lateraled the ball to freshman Eli Eureste.

The freshman then scampered into the endzone. Gonzales’ two-point kick was good and the Bulldogs trailed 36-34.

Eden then recovered the ensuing kickoff, scoring four plays later on a 38-yard pass from Rodgers to Ethan Saucedo to take the 40-36 lead.

“When we scored in the third quarter, that was huge confidence,” Garmon said. “That’s something we’re going to build on. So, I love the boys, I love how we played.”

Blackwell answered with 18 points while holding Eden scoreless in the fourth to win the game.

Joe Sanchez regained the lead for Blackwell with an 8-yard run. Blackwell didn’t look back from there.

Sanchez led the Hornet's ground game, rushing for 159 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Lowry threw for 97 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Blackwell narrowly outgained Eden with 451 total yards compared to the Bulldog’s 431.

Rodgers proved he can spin the ball from his quarterback position. The 6-foot-5 sophomore went 23-of-47 passing for 393 yards and four touchdowns.

“Hunner’s doing good,” Garmon said. “He’s going to be good...He’s a competitor. He’s going to be a good one.”

Eureste had just the lone touchdown to go with his team-leading 58 rushing yards in his debut, but Garmon was extremely pleased with the way the freshman responded in a big game.

“He’s a little running back, a freshman running back,” Garmon said. “We threw him in at starting running back against a state-ranked team. We made some fumbles and he got down on himself. We just kept talking and told him ‘Hey, we’re going to make mistakes.’ We just have to keep working.”

Anthony Moya stepped up in a big way, catching 10 passes for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns

“I want to shout out Anthony Moya,” Garmon insisted. “He played a great game. He did a lot of unsung hero stuff for us.”

Eden (0-1) will host Rotan on Friday, Sept. 7, while Blackwell (1-0) will travel to Roscoe Highland.