ELLINWOOD — The middle school football team hosted the Salina Sacred Heart Knights on Sept. 1. The Eagles missed some early opportunities to score in the first half and went into halftime trailing 0-6.

In the second half, the Knights scored again to take a 12-0 lead but on the next possession the Eagles scored on a touchdown pass from Conner Ewing to Jordan Lee Mountain. Kaleb Schartz scored on the conversion to make it 8-12. In the 4th quarter, the Eagles defense made some big plays to stop the Knights momentum.

Tyson Martinez forced a key fumble which gave the Eagles the ball with a chance to take the lead. On a drive that consisted of two 4th down conversions covering 50 yards the Eagles scored with 2 seconds remaining to take a 14-12 lead. Schartz who had earlier been sidelined with a back injury played through the pain and scored the winning TD on a sweep behind blocking from his offensive line and receivers. Conner Ewing added the conversion on an option play to reach the final score of 16-12.

This was the Eagles’ first game, and they will carry a 1-0 record into their next matchup.