Derrick Webb, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
BEAVER — Just three weeks ago, it’d be fair to say that Eastern escaped Crown City with a one-point win over South Gallia to clinch a share of the SOC I championship.
That night, coach Scott Tomlison’s group took home a hard-fought 13-12 win over the Rebels to stay unbeaten. But they also raised a ton of questions while doing so.
On Friday, after the two met for a rematch in a Division VII, Region 27 Quarterfinal, there were no questions to be asked. Using an opportunistic defense and a big-play offense, the Eagles left no doubt, pounding South Gallia by a 41-6 final to advance.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“It comes down to a great coaching staff,” Tomlison said. “Evan Ferguson, Daniel Stewart and Dalton Tomlison are three of the best young assistants in the game. We killed it in game film this week and loved our game plan. Before the game, it felt funny because we weren’t nervous. We had game-planned so well, and we felt so good about it, we were looking at each other like, ‘Should we be nervous?’ But we weren’t. The kids executed the game plan and we knew this was going to happen tonight. We knew this was how it was going to go down.”
Early and often, quarterback Eric Manley was the catalyst of several scoring drives.
The junior signal caller aided the Eagles (12-0) to five first half scoring drives before finishing the game 11-of-19 passing for 258 yards and five touchdowns.
“It’s Evan Ferguson. He’s spent all the time with [Manley]. He talked him into playing two years ago,” Tomlison said. “He was a backup wide receiver last year and we saw that he had an arm. [Ferguson] spent a lot of time with him this summer and I can’t take any credit for that. I turned [Ferguson] loose with the offense and turned him loose with the quarterback. He does a great job and I can’t speak enough about the job he’s doing with Eric.”
On the opposite side of the coin, Eastern’s defense forced South Gallia (7-4) into five first half turnovers — three fumbles and two interceptions that all led to Eagle points.
“We brought in Daniel Stewart, who’s been a coach at Oak Hill for the past five years,” Tomlison said. “He was wanting a chance to be a defensive coordinator. I gave him the opportunity and my selling point was, ‘If you come here, you’re going to win a lot of games.’ I told him that we had the talent and we needed him to come in here, ready to roll. We leave him alone. We don’t mess with his defense. He’s one of those analytical guys and his game plans every week are top notch. This is the best defense we’ve ever had, by far.”
On the opening kickoff, Eastern made a mistake of its own, fumbling the ball away.
The Rebels then embarked on a drive that took them to the Eagles’ eight-yard line. However, Eastern forced and recovered a fumble to kill the momentum and — put bluntly — the avalanche started there.
On the ensuing drive, Eastern moved the chains on a 4th & 6 play from SG’s 33-yard line. That, eventually, led to a 27-yard touchdown strike from Manley to Boston Webb, and a 7-0 lead.
After the Rebels fumbled away possession for a second time, it set up Eastern’s shop at South Gallia’s 40-yard line. Just 37 seconds later, the Eagles had a 14-0 lead when Brady Moore scored from 16 yards out — a lead that remained at the end of the first quarter.
South Gallia again drove into Eagle territory and again turned the ball over to start the second. On 4th & 11 from the 26-yard line, Webb picked off a pass to give Eastern possession at its own 1.
Manley then led his offense on a 99-yard scoring drive, one that ended with an acrobatic 23-yard, one-handed catch in the end zone from Wyatt Richardson at the 2:02 mark.
“I told our coaches we better send that into ESPN,” Tomlison said, smiling. “I played five years of college football and I’ve been around a long time. That was probably the best catch I’ve seen. It was crazy.”
With a commanding 21-0 lead, the Eagles were far from finished. They quickly forced a fourth turnover before scoring again with 1:25 left in the half to go up 27-0 — a 50-yard pitch-and-catch from Manley to Carson Peters.
When Eastern’s defense forced a fifth change of possession, the game was already all but finished. But to put a running clock into effect throughout the second half, Manley hit Richardson for an eight-yard touchdown pass with just 2.3 seconds remaining, making it 34-0.
The game’s next score didn’t come until the 7:27 mark in the fourth. That’s when Manley hit Peters for a 63-yard touchdown toss, pushing the lead to 41-0. South Gallia’s lone score came late, preventing the shutout, on a 70-yard touchdown run from Layne Wright.
Statistically, alongside Manley’s final numbers, Moore ran the ball 16 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. Peters hauled in four catches for 141 yards and two scores, Richardson had three receptions for 77 yards and a pair of scores, and Webb added three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.
The Rebels were led by Layne Wright, who had 119 yards on the ground, alongside a touchdown, on 11 carries.
While South Gallia’s season comes to an end after the Rebels won their first-ever playoff contest, the Eagles will advance to a Division VII, Region 27 Semifinal.
Eastern will meet with Conotton Valley at 7 p.m., Friday at a neutral site to be determined. The Rockets topped Trimble by a 26-22 final to advance.
“This is our 10th year [as a program]. Honestly, I’m not a patient man. I wanted to be here sooner,” Tomlison said. “Three conference championships in a row and now we’ve moved on to round three [in the postseason]. But when we talked in the locker room before this season started, we said we wanted to get to Canton. We want to be there. We’re not happy winning just a conference championship and a playoff game, or two. We want to play for state championships. We’re building something real here. We’re going to keep this thing rolling.”
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