Owls clipped by the Eagles
Examiner photo by Carter Benton Ta’Colton Calhoun scores the Owls lone touchdown late in fourth quarter action Sept. 29. Newton remained undefeated handing Anderson-Shiro their first loss of the season.
Examiner photo by Carter Benton A full moon rises over the Anderson-Shiro Owl defense as the Newton Eagles come to town and pick up a 53-8 win.
ANDERSON —The Anderson-Shiro Owls put up a valiant fight but fell short, 53-8, to the sixth-ranked Newton Eagles Sept. 29, at Owl Stadium.
The Owls (5-1, 1-1) were victimized by the turnover bug early and it cost them. Anderson-Shiro put up a strong first half limiting the extremely dangerous Eagles to just two scores prior to an interception returned for a touchdown late in the second quarter.
“We missed opportunities on Friday night that hurt us.,” said Owls Head Coach Brad Hodges about the first half. “When we executed, we moved the ball on them. We also forced them off the field with our defense. Turnovers and missed tackles hurt against a talented team like the Eagles. Those early missed opportunities just stopped our momentum.”
The Owls had two first half turnovers that led to Eagle scores. On the night, three total turnovers all led to touchdowns. Hodges said the staff will build on the positives. “We never stopped fighting,” he explained. “Our guys showed a lot of pride. They could have shut it down, but they did not. We were still playing hard late in the game. I was very proud of our effort. We will bounce back this week.”
This week the Owls turn their attention to their closest district rival, the New Waverly Bulldogs. “Throw the records out for this one,” said Hodges. “This game is always an intense, big district game for both teams. We are looking to bounce back to our winning ways, and they want to continue the momentum they built last week.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a big district win over Warren. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6. in New Waverly. As always, if you cannot make the road trip, you can follow along for live scoring updates and short videos on Facebook at the Navasota Examiner’s Sports Page.