Stumbling to its first defeat of the 2009 season last Friday, the Aberdeen Eagles varsity football team will attempt to get back on track tonight (Friday), but it may not be easy.
The Eagles, now 3-1, will visit unbeaten Joppatowne (4-0) tonight at 7 p.m. in a key UCBAC Chesapeake Division contest.
The Mariners are coming off another impressive victory, a 47-10 beating of Elkton.
Aberdeen, meanwhile, enters tonight’s meeting after a 38-30 loss to visiting North Harford a week ago.
With almost 500 yards of total offense, the Hawks handed the home-team Eagles, who were previously undefeated, their toughest loss in three years, head coach John Siemsen wrote in an e-mail.
“In the first half, we had eight penalties which gave [the Hawks] extra possessions when we had stopped a drive,” Siemsen wrote. “The second half we made adjustments and had one delay of game penalty. If we play mistake-free football for four quarters, the outcome may have been different.”
The Hawks, who improve to 3-1 with the win, had 299 yards rushing and 182 yards passing, with five touchdowns by three different players.
The Eagles, who fall to 3-1 with the loss, played mostly a ground game. They had 187 yards on the ground and 90 in the air.
For Aberdeen, Kennard Squirrel, Lazarus Turner and Demitrick Belle had standout games.
Belle led the Eagles to four touchdowns — two rushing and two passing — and three two-point conversion tosses. He completed five of 10 passes for 90 yards and rushed for 59 yards on 11 carries.
Turner had nine carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns, while Gerrae Williams and Norman Jones each caught touchdown passes for Aberdeen. Shawn Roney caught two passes on the two-point conversions and Jones added one.