Team on bye week; visits Fort Bragg on Sept. 20
The Eagles left little to chance in notching their first season win on Friday, running roughshod over visiting Healdsburg to score a convincing, 41-0 rout.
Cloverdale (1-2) combined a balanced offensive attack with a swarming, opportunistic defensive effort to key the victory, a welcome result as the team heads into the bye week.
“It was really good to see our guys rebound from the first two games and put a performance like that together,” Eagles head coach Greg Alexander said. “Despite the score we still have a lot of work to do, but our guys are starting to understand expectations and where they need to be.”
Cloverdale won’t enjoy much beach time during the bye this week as they prepare for their next challenge — a Sept. 20 visit to Fort Bragg.
“We will do our self scout and work to break some tendencies and focus on execution and technique,” Alexander noted about this week’s preparation. “Fort Bragg has only played one game so far, so we’ll break that down and begin to prepare for them as we approach our league schedule.”
Turnovers seal victory
Things went south for the Greyhounds in a hurry in Friday’s clash at Cloverdale, as the Eagles cashed in following a Healdsburg fumbled punt for an early 7-0 lead. A Cloverdale interception led to another score to make it 13-0 Eagles. Fate struck again just before the half when an apparent fumble recovery for Healdsburg was ruled an incomplete pass, and Cloverdale scored a few plays later for a 20-0 halftime lead. The Eagles would ice the contest with three more touchdowns after intermission en route to a 41-0 victory.
“That play (just before the half) seemed to break our will,” Healdsburg coach Dave Stine recalled. “The defense could not rise to the task in the second half, having difficulty stopping the Cloverdale running game.”
Eagle’s running back Shayne Turner was nearly unstoppable, churning up 150 rushing yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Eagle’s quarterback Colby Furia finished up a solid outing with nine completions on 17 pass attempts for 124 yards and one score. Other leading rushers were Anthonie Rebottaro (9-69 yards, TD) and Logan Axell (6-21 yards). Top receivers were Axell (7-86 yards, TD), Dylan Scaramella (2-26 yards) and Chuche Maciel (1-29 yards).
Leading defenders included Rebottaro (1 tackle, 2 caused fumbles, FR, TD), Josh Lemley (4 tackles, sack), (Lopez (6 tackles), Maciel (2 tackles, INT), Leo Acevedo (4 tackles), Turner (4 tackles), Scaramella (3 tackles), Axell (3 tackles), Munson (1 tackle), Calderone (1 tackle), Maciel (1 tackle, INT).
“We had a very good week of practice and it showed,” Alexander said. “I’m also very proud of this group because they come to work everyday with great attitudes and want to get better, after a couple of losses this is not always the case.”
