Six turnovers spell doom for Mooseheart
MOOSEHEART -- Had actor Erik Estrada hung around to watch the game on Saturday afternoon, he would have seen Mooseheart commit six turnovers -- including three in the fourth quarter -- en route to a 6-3 loss to Chicago Hope Academy.
The Red Ramblers got out to a 3-0 lead, but their final nine possessions of the game resulted in a punt or a turnover.
"I don't know what to say. I really don't," Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler said about the turnovers. "They hurt, and we didn't take advantage of the times that we had the ball in the red zone."
Estrada was in attendance for a pregame ceremony to accept a check from the Moose fraternal order on behalf of the Safe Surfin' Foundation, which works to educate kids about Internet safety.
Mooseheart fell to 5-2 overall and fell two games behind undefeated Rockford Christian for first place in the Northeastern Athletic Conference. The loss also puts on hold the Ramblers' quest to make the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
The Eagles (6-1, 6-1) didn't do much better with ball security as they lost four turnovers to make the pace of play quite ragged. It finally came together for Hope Academy late in the third quarter as the running game began to rip off big chunks of yardage with an 11-play, 93-yard drive capped off with Adrian Hurst's 1-yard dive.
"At a small school like this and dealing with inner-city kids and dealing with that type of environment, you're dealing with a lot of different challenges that a lot of other places don't," Hope Academy coach Jay McDonagh said after his team qualified for the playoffs for the second year in a row. "Our kids have responded week in and week out and I'm proud of the way they played, and going to the playoffs, we couldn't be more excited."
The Eagles found more room to run in the second half, getting outside and breaking tackles to control the clock. It shows in the stat sheet as Hurst (85 of 105 yards) and Edward Daniels (54 of 64 yards) were far more productive after halftime.
"We lost some containment in our assignments," Urwiler said. "They started bouncing, which we knew they would do that. We thought we did a good job of containing that in the first half. The second have we just weren't able to contain."
Despite all the turnovers, the Red Ramblers still had chances to win the game late in the fourth quarter. Mooseheart's best opportunity came on its first drive in the fourth quarter as the Ramblers reached the Hope 34 before stalling out and going for it on fourth-and-11.
The fourth-down play was an halfback option pass that never had a chance. Eagles defensive lineman Darrin Phillips smacked Jonell Crump as he threw the ball and the wobbly offering fell into the hands defensive back Junior Smith.
After forcing a punt, Mooseheart began moving the ball again, but quarterback Isaiah Brigman threw his second interception of the game. His first interception was just as costly. Brigman's underthrown fade pass went to Hope's Daniel Cordero in the end zone with 28 seconds left in the first half.
Jasper Cheneyon gave the Ramblers a 3-0 lead with a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter. Mooseheart took the opening kickoff and used 13 plays to set up its only score.
Damion Moore led Mooseheart with 92 yards from scrimmage, including 62 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Crump had 52 rushing yards on 16 carries. Both running backs lost fumbles.
