pictured is Landon Taplin, picture courtesy of Brad Anderson
ABILENE: The Augusta Orioles picked up their first win of the season Friday night 36-22. Augusta improved to 1-5 with the win. Their record is deceiving considering the competition they have faced. Their opponents combined record was 18-6 entering Friday.
Friday night, Abilene hurt themselves with turnovers. The Cowboys had 6 interceptions in the game and Augusta capitalized time and time again. A Rylee Michael interception set up the Orioles first score. Augusta took possession at their 49 yard line and scored 8 plays later on a Hunter West 2 yard run with 4:34 to play in the opening quarter. The Orioles took a 6-0 lead into the 2nd.
West opened the scoring in the 2nd quarter on a 19 yard reception from Brody Haskell. The two connected with 5:56 to play in the half to increase the Augusta lead to 13-0. The Orioles next possession was set up by a Gavin Ralston interception at the Abilene 29 yard line. West completed the hat trick and scored for a third time on another 2 yard score to give Augusta a 20-0 lead with 4:41 left in the half. Abilene finally caught a break with a West fumble that was recovered by Tyler Holloway. QB, Taygen Funston scored 5 plays later for the Cowboys with 36 seconds left in the half, to narrow the gap to 20-7 at the break.
Abilene opened the second half with the football and put together an 8 play drive that was capped by Funston. The Junior scored on a 13 yard run with 8:33 to play in the 3rd quarter to pull the Cowboys to within 20-13. Abilene would tie the game on a 4 yard jet sweep, catch and run by Weston Rock with 1:29 to play in the 3rd. The Cowboys then took their first lead on an intentional grounding call on Brody Haskell. That play gave Abilene a 22-20 lead with 55 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
The final quarter belonged to Augusta. Haskell gave his team the lead for good with a 30 yard field goal with 2:59 to play in the game. Gabe Kohl and Willy Morales put the game away with back to back interception returns for touchdowns. The Oriole defensive line was the difference in the game and came up with 3 of their team’s interceptions.
Abilene fell to 2-4 with the loss. The Player of the Game was Weston Rock. He finished with 8 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. Abilene will travel to El Dorado next Friday. El Dorado is 0-6 on the season and lost 68-6 to Buhler Friday night.
