The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School junior varsity football team hosted their first game of the season against Deerfield Beach High School on Thursday, Sept. 7. Entering the game, the Eagles were hoping to start off the year strong with a win over Deerfield. They had their hopes high as the crowd in the stands were full of cheering and supportive family members, friends and students.
The first quarter began with a touchdown by Deerfield. The Eagles were faced with an early deficit of six points. With no other scores by either side, the Eagles were down 6-0 after the first quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, the Eagles made several tackles on Deerfield, showing their determination to win. When the first half was coming to an end, Deerfield scored the second touchdown as the Eagles kept pushing in an attempt to score. As they tried to plan their next move, the Eagles kept their spirit strong in their drive to beat Deerfield. After a couple incomplete passes, the score remained at 12-0, with Deerfield still in the lead.
The Eagles took halftime as the opportunity to regroup and see what they need to improve.
“Our offensive line could’ve been better, they weren’t giving the quarterback enough time to pass the ball,” wide receiver Johnny Debs (10) said. “I think I could improve on running better routes.”
The Eagles felt ready when quarter three started, but after minutes of suspenseful plays and scoring their first down of the game, a sack was performed by defense and offensive lineman Marc St. Fort (55), but shortly later Deerfield scored another touchdown. The Eagles were set to receive, but despite a long drive, they failed to score a point. The third quarter ended with Deerfield taking a lead of 18-0. The Eagles were still falling behind, but there was still time to score.
“The linebackers and defensive line were doing good, but we need to improve on our tackling,” linebacker Ryan Balkom (44) said.
As the final quarter began, despite determination from the Eagles, the score remained to be 18-0 in favor of Deerfield. The Eagles brushed it off while cornerback and receiver Shane Zoberg (16) had an interception that was called to be out of bounds. With a few minutes left of the game, the Eagles weren’t able to score again. In the end, the Eagles fell behind and Deerfield ended the game and took home the first win of the season with a final score of 18-0.
“It sucks that we lost, but I did good and got noticed by the varsity coaches, and hope to get moved up soon,” cornerback Aiden Mcyntyre (2) said.
Unfortunately, the Eagles started off with a tough game which ended in a tough loss. The team is hoping to come back stronger than before and to start heading in the right direction and get their first win of the season. Their next game is on Wednesday, Sept. 20 against Coral Glades High School.
