Elgin strikes early, decks Eagles 56-14

ELGIN—Fans often struggle to get a good view of big plays but Thursday night everyone assembled at the Owls Nest saw Brice Martin come from out of nowhere to grab an interception seemingly out of the hands of a Weatherford receiver and return it 82 yards for a touchdown to put a fitting cap to a banner first half that showed that Elgin’s every bit worthy of its No. 1 ranking in Class 4A.

The Owls scored in a variety of manners in the first half and by halftime Elgin owned a 35-7 lead and there was little to be decided in the second half except making sure most everyone suited up for the Owls got into action in the second half.

Martin’s big pick-6 was just one of the many highlights for the Owls in the first half that pushed Elgin to 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in District 4A-1 with the impressive 56-14 victory.

Coach Chalmer Wyatt’s club scored on two of its first three possessions but after a good punt return the Eagles were finally able to get their offense going, using seven plays to cover just 38 yards after a short punt and good return that cut the Owls’ lead in half at 14-7.

But Elgin quickly shut down the excitement the visitors were feeling as the Owls scored on their next two possession before Martin’s huge play made sure this was going into the win column.

After the break the Elgin offense produced three more touchdowns as by then the Eagles’ defense was worn down after the big, bruising Owls’ offensive line kept opening holes as the clock slowly marched downward.

Elgin was able to open gaping holes in the middle of the Weatherford defense and the beneficiary of many of those big holes was junior back Ritson Meyer who rushed for 172 yards on 18 tough carries as he came off the field with a slight limp at times.

“The thing that is enjoyable is watching that line of scrimmage moving with our line,” Coach Wyatt said. “The thing we need to continue to do is throw the ball effectively. Tres had some really big throws tonight where he just dropped the ball perfectively in to the receiver. That is something we will continue to work on going forward.”

Elgin quarterback Tres Lorah had another solid game, hitting 9 of 15 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.

The Owls defense allowed 21 yards rushing in the first half and the Eagles were able to throw the ball for just 54 yards in the first half and 56 yards for the game. Weatherford’s TJ Nickerson, who is headed to Norman to play football for the Sooners, caught just one pass for 10 yards, well below his average per game.

The Owls used Josh Adesola to cover Nickerson most of the game and at times Elgin was bringing a safety over the top but the other important factor was the pressure that kept the Weatherford quarterbacks scrambling all evening.

On the evening the Eagles wound up connecting on just of 5-of-11 passes for 56 yards but the key statistic was that Nickerson was never able to showcase the skills that lured the OU coaches to recruit him.

While the Owls were in total control, there were a couple of issues that Wyatt said the coaching staff will address early in the week.

“We had some holding calls (four of them), we had a bad snap and we had a couple of short punts that set them up with good field position,” Wyatt said. “They got that first touchdown after one of those punts. We just have to clean those things up.”