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Grain Valley, MO —
Stingy defense, hundreds of yards and a ton of points all added up to one giant step for the Grain Valley football team.
That’s the way Eagles football coach Jimmy Tucker described his team’s performance in a 49-13 victory over Center High School Friday at Moody Murry Community Field at Grain Valley High School.
Tucker said it was the first time all season he saw his players play four good quarters of football.
It couldn’t have come at a better time as the win was the district opener for the Eagles (5-3).
“All three phases of the game we were pretty good tonight,” Tucker said.
Grain Valley’s special teams got things going.
Senior Ryan Nace returned the opening kickoff 77 yards to give the Eagles a short field.
They capitalized when senior quarterback Jeramey Maynard connected with Zac Hoover for a 26-yard touchdown just 1:01 into the game.
Grain Valley then successfully executed an onside kick. Again the Eagles capitalized when Maynard connected with Dylan Farrell for a 19-yard touchdown. The two quick scores had Grain Valley ahead 14-0 less than two minutes into the game.
What the special teams got started was carried through the rest of the game by the offense.
The Eagles averaged more than 8 yards per play on the way to 435 yards of offense.
Maynard connected on 11 of 15 pass attempts for 182 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
His No. 1 wide receiver was Hoover, who caught six passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Farrell also had two receiving touchdowns.
“They were just all clicking tonight,” Tucker said. “Seniors, playing their last home game, really wanted to come out on top and really wanted to get to the playoffs.
“I was really happy for them tonight.”
The run game was just as effective with 253 yards and three scores. Nace averaged 9.2 yards per carry as he compiled 129 yards and a score on 14 carries.
Hoover rushed for 92 yards on 10 carries with a score. Tucker Pauley also barreled one into the end zone for a score.
Nace said the Eagles’ performance all started on the practice field.
“We came out this week really focused in practice, just took a lot of preparation time and made sure we did everything right in practice,” Nace said. “Then we came out here and executed.”
There was a lot of execution on defense as well. Center put up some yards, but struggled to find the goal with one touchdown in each half.
Stingy defense, hundreds of yards and a ton of points all added up to one giant step for the Grain Valley football team.
That’s the way Eagles football coach Jimmy Tucker described his team’s performance in a 49-13 victory over Center High School Friday at Moody Murry Community Field at Grain Valley High School.
Tucker said it was the first time all season he saw his players play four good quarters of football.
It couldn’t have come at a better time as the win was the district opener for the Eagles (5-3).
“All three phases of the game we were pretty good tonight,” Tucker said.
Grain Valley’s special teams got things going.
Senior Ryan Nace returned the opening kickoff 77 yards to give the Eagles a short field.
They capitalized when senior quarterback Jeramey Maynard connected with Zac Hoover for a 26-yard touchdown just 1:01 into the game.
Grain Valley then successfully executed an onside kick. Again the Eagles capitalized when Maynard connected with Dylan Farrell for a 19-yard touchdown. The two quick scores had Grain Valley ahead 14-0 less than two minutes into the game.
What the special teams got started was carried through the rest of the game by the offense.
The Eagles averaged more than 8 yards per play on the way to 435 yards of offense.
Maynard connected on 11 of 15 pass attempts for 182 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
His No. 1 wide receiver was Hoover, who caught six passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Farrell also had two receiving touchdowns.
“They were just all clicking tonight,” Tucker said. “Seniors, playing their last home game, really wanted to come out on top and really wanted to get to the playoffs.
“I was really happy for them tonight.”
The run game was just as effective with 253 yards and three scores. Nace averaged 9.2 yards per carry as he compiled 129 yards and a score on 14 carries.
Hoover rushed for 92 yards on 10 carries with a score. Tucker Pauley also barreled one into the end zone for a score.
Nace said the Eagles’ performance all started on the practice field.
“We came out this week really focused in practice, just took a lot of preparation time and made sure we did everything right in practice,” Nace said. “Then we came out here and executed.”
There was a lot of execution on defense as well. Center put up some yards, but struggled to find the goal with one touchdown in each half.
Grain Valley at times had trouble slowing down Center’s speedy offensive attack, but almost always found a way to come up with a stop.
Tucker said the defense had come a long way from a game earlier in the season where it gave up 70 points.
“I just feel like we’re a totally different team right now, especially defensively,” Tucker said.
Eagles fans also took notice of their team’s performance, and the team was rewarded after the game by being mobbed by a large group of fans.
“I think it was a sendoff that all the other seniors deserved,” Nace said. “They’ve been working real hard the last few years here.
“The things that we’ve gone through together are just a big thing. It was something magical for us.”
