By ADAM WELCH
pressbox1.com

TROY - Leading 16-0 late in the 4th quarter, the Jr. War Eagles were backed into their end zone by a Hillcrest team that wouldn’t quit. Mitch Arnett’s nine-yard punt return set up a first and goal at the West Carroll two yard line for the Cougars with just over three minutes remaining. The miraculous defensive stand by the War Eagles turned the Cougars away on four consecutive scoring attempts to claim a 16-0 victory over Hillcrest.

West Carroll Junior High Head Coach Wade Maddox said he admired his team's heart in the wake of this season-opening victory.

“You don’t see many players in this age group to have the ball on the one yard line and defensively dig in on four downs the way that we did tonight," he said.

The War Eagles scored their opening drive as they put together a nine-play 51-yard drive culminating in a 2-yard run up the middle by Darwin Martinez followed by a Jamal Glenn ran left on a toss sweep to give the War Eagles an 8-0 lead with 2:44 remaining in the first quarter.

The final score for West Carroll came late in the 2nd quarter as Jamal Glenn took the option toss down the left sideline for a 35-yard touchdown. Glenn then lined up under center and called his own number for the two-point conversion, giving the Junior War Eagles a 16-0 lead before the half.

West Carroll was physical throughout the game and kept the Cougar’s ground game in check as Hillcrest finished the game with a -20 yards rushing.

The Cougars had some success through the air as they gained 68 yards with their spread offense, most of which was no huddle, but the West Carroll secondary came up with three timely interceptions to stop the Hillcrest possible scoring drives. Letrell Huff’s jump ball interception at the War Eagles one yard line turned the Cougars away from another scoring opportunity with just over five minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Robert Reynolds also came up with two picks for the Junior War Eagles.

“I thought we did a great job," Maddox said. "I’d like to commend our defensive secondary for having three interceptions tonight. The one at the goal line, if he (Letrell Huff) falls two inches back, we’re getting the ball at the twenty yard line as opposed to the three inch line.”

Hillcrest Head Coach Brian Moffitt said his team's execution wasn't so bad, given that it's the first year to run this new offense.

“I thought that we looked good considering this is the first year that we’ve run the spread offense, especially the no-huddle." he said. "A great improvement from last season, the team has adapted well. As far as the game tonight, we were there; we just didn’t make some key plays. We’re a young team that has some talent and we’re going to mix things up. We’ll work this week to make some changes and we’ll be alright going down the stretch.”

Maddox liked his team's smashmouth demeanor.

“We were fairly physical tonight, maybe not as much as we possibly can be, but I think we were more physical than Hillcrest was, but we have to work on executing in the trenches," he said. "We had some guys that ran the ball hard tonight, but we need to work on controlling the ball more. We expect to build on this victory and work hard these next few days to prepare for our next opponent.”

Hillcrest will play Dyer Middle School 6:30 p.m. August 28. The Junior War Eagles host Harrelson 6:30 p.m. August 26.