By Richard Nelson

editor@jacksonvilleprogress.com

RUSK — A week after running up and down the field and scoring 35 points in the season opener, the Rusk Eagles just couldn’t seem to get on track Friday night in a 31-10 home loss to the Van Vandals.

The Eagles’ first series was indicitave of how their night would go, as Lonnie Gipson made zero headway on two running plays.

However, he broke loose on a 35-yard run to move his team to the Vandals’ 45 yard line. Quarterback John David Beard gained five yards on a keeper, and Gipson followed with a four-yard gain to set up third-and-1 on the 36. But, a fumble on the next play ended the drive.

The Vandals took over and Van quarterback Tyler Sharpe began putting on a clinic. He connected with Clayton Kendrick for a five yards and then found Michael Terry for a 62-yard touchdown catch and run. The Vandals led 7-0 with 9:35 left in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead.

Despite Sharpe’s quarterback prowess, the Eagles trailed just 10-0 with a minute left in the first half. They cut into that lead with a Beard keeper, set up by a Cornellous Lewis interception of a pass tipped by Trent Vaught. The next play, Beard scored from 26 yards out.

The second half started out looking more like last week’s game, as Van scored on its second play, a 78-yard pass play from Sharpe to Blake Pennington.

The Eagles answered on their next series. Beard got things started with a 45-yard run to give his team a first-and-goal on the 9. Following three plays that netted one yard, the Eagles elected to punt. A penalty moved the ball back to the 13, but that didn’t phase Ricky Rojo, who kicked the field goal and got the Eagles within a score.

It was then Van’s turn for another big play. Terry took the kickoff at the 7 yard line and would have scored if Rusk’s John Carroll hadn’t made a last-ditch dive at his feet and tripped him up at the Eagles 7.

Carroll made his presence felt throughout the second half.

“We tried to make some adjustments (at halftime), and we gave John Carroll, our backup quarterback, a look at the Sam linebacker spot,” Rusk coach Ted Patton said. “He made several tackles, had a pass break-up. He’s also our punter and had a 37-yard average.”

The Eagles defense stiffened and held the Vandals to a field goal attempt that went wide right.

Rusk wasn unable to move the ball and punted it back to Van, which put together its longest drive of the night. Sharpe completed five passes on the 11-play drive that ended with another missed field goal.

A Rusk highlight during the drive was a quarterback sack, with Terrance Turner being first on the scene and Tony Teaugue helping finish it off.

At the end of the third quarter, Rusk trailed just 17-10.

Beard notched his first completion, a 15-yarder to Michael Katon for a first down. Then three plays and a penalty later the Eagles punted again.

In just 13 seconds the game got out of reach.

Sharpe hit Tye Hughes for a 55-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive.

Then, the Vandals kicked short and recovered, setting themselves up on the Eagles’ 35. Five plays later the Vandals owned a 31-10 lead with 4:52 left to play.

The Eagles did put together a 12-play, four-first-down drive to finish the game.

Andrew Tucker rushed 19 yards for one first down, and Gipson ran 10 yards for another. A pass interference penalty got the Eagles to the Vandals 20, and Tucker rushed 11 yards for a first down and set his team up on the 9 yard line with 11 seconds remaining in the game.

Three incomplete passes ended the drive and the game.

Gipson finished the night with 40 yards on 17 carries, and Tucker had 39 yards on eight carries. Beard was the leading rusher with 13 carries for 77 yards and the touchdown. Vaught added seven yards on four carries.

“We didn’t have three starters we had last week, and those three combined contributed to Van being able to limit us,” Patton said. “You’ve got to give credit to Van, but we didn’t execute as well as last week.”

Dalton Pate led the Eagles defense with seven tackles and eight assisted tackles. Carroll finished with seven tackles and six assists. He also had two pass break-ups. Terrance Turner recorded a tackle-for-loss and a quarterback sack.

Rusk (0-2) plays at Gladewater at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12.