Radford, Chester Defense Overwhelms Eau Claire

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CHESTER </strong>| Chester overwhelmed Eau Claire with three first half turnovers on the way to a 41-8 rout on Friday night.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cyclones came out aggressive from the opening kickoff.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gunnar Wells </strong>recovered a planned onside kick for the Cyclones and it took them two plays to score. The first offensive snap was a 38-yard completion from quarterback <strong>De'Imari Cockrell </strong>to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816734' first='Terry' last='Radford'] </strong>before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603999' first='Caleb' last='Feaster'] </strong>found the endzone from 11 yards out as they took a 7-0 lead, just 48 seconds into the contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We wanted to get a fast start. We had planned the onside kick all week. We won the toss and we deferred and we went onside and see what happens, and they executed it well and we were able to get a couple of quick scores and get it rolling,” Chester head coach Victor Floyd said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822434' first='Adam' last='Lutz'], [player_tooltip player_id='1603965' first='Luke' last='Reed'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165099' first='Darriyarn' last='Baxley'] </strong>harassed Shamrocks' quarterback <strong>Jahcory Sumpter </strong>with tackles for loss as the Shamrocks wanted to try and run the ball. Radford took a bad snap from the punter, setting up the Cyclones at the 30-yard line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Omari Pendagrass </strong>was physical throughout the evening and kept his legs running on a 9-yard run on the Cyclones' 2nd drive, culminating with a 2-yard <strong>T'Mari Caldwell </strong>touchdown run with 8:04 to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Shrine Bowl selection in Radford (pictured above) forced a fumble, leading to a 4-yard touchdown run from Cockrell to take a 21-0 lead with 6:46 to play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(We) just came out with high energy, you know? Not letting them trick us with anything and playing hard and keep playing until the whistle. Don't let the score define us and keep going,” Radford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the next drive, Baxley took a scoop-and-score back 40 yards for a touchdown as the rout was on for Chester at 28-0.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We wanted to try to control the line of scrimmage, offensive line, defensive line and I think the guys did that,” Floyd said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The start of the second quarter saw the Cyclones continue to dominate as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822439' first='Jakobe' last='Starks']</strong> ran left side 52 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 35-0 with 11:43 to play. He returned an interception 32 yards on the next drive before Pendagrass scored from 3 yards out with 4:32 to play before the half. The extra point was blocked, but Chester took a 41-0 lead at the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second half featured a running clock and eight minute quarters. Sumpter found the end zone from 26 yards out to avoid the shutout for the Shamrocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>EAU CLAIRE NOTES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Vashon Taylor </strong>made a tackle for loss on an inside running play and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734605' first='Josh' last='Smith'] </strong>made a good open field tackle in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BJ Ashford </strong>made a tackle for loss on a quarterback keeper, and <strong>Adin Davis Young </strong>made a tackle that forced a fumble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dequaris Summers </strong>made a nice catch on a screen for a Shamrocks' first down near the end of the first half. He also picked up a 16-yard gain in the third quarter</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CHESTER NOTES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Freshman <strong>Adrian Dula </strong>saw some experience in the second half as he made a completion to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822435' first='Zion' last='Howze']</strong>, who is a sophomore.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore <strong>Varr Thompson </strong>did an excellent job wrapping up on a tackle for loss in the second quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>On Deck</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chester hosts Fairfield Central next week, while Eau Claire will have a bye week next before also hosting the Griffins at home in two weeks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->