An ankle injury to sophomore Killian McIntosh early in the first quarter showed Arlington coach Colter Mattson the character of his team.
Mattson said McIntosh's injury — and other injuries players sustained throughout the night — piled on adversity that the Eagles (0-5) faced throughout their 35-8 loss to Columbus Scotus (4-1).
Still, the Eagles pressed on and didn't give up, Mattson said.
“A lot of adversity,” he said. “We had some pretty big injuries that the kids responded well to. They finished the game but there was a lot of adversity.”
Mattson said he viewed the injuries as another opportunity to be a leader and rally his players to continue to play hard and fight until the final whistle, which Mattson believes they accomplished.
“They could've folded in the first quarter but they kept fighting,” he said. “They're tough kids, they don't give up and they didn't give up on each other.”
Scotus set the tone early, taking its first drive down the field and scoring on a 19 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trenton Cielocha to wideout Lucas Wemhoff.
All-purpose junior Kaden Foust returned the following kickoff to the Shamrocks' 30 but the offense stalled out at the 28 following an unsuccessful 4th and 9 try. Scotus scored its second touchdown on the ensuing drive on a 21 yard pass from Cielocha to Jackson Faust with 5:19 left in the first to bump Scotus' lead to 14-0.
Arlington's offense struggled to gain footing throughout the first half, allowing Scotus to build a 27-0 lead going into the half, with a short run by running back Eli Jarecke and a two-yard run by Cielocha.
Scotus scored its final touchdown shortly after the halftime break on another touchdown connection from Cielocha to Wemhoff. A successful two point conversion gave the Shamrocks a 35-0 lead.
Arlington was able to score its lone touchdown of the night on 36 yard pass from sophomore quarterback Cooper Staats to Foust in the fourth quarter. Foust, lining up at wide receiver, took a short pass down the sideline and raced away from Shamrock defenders for the score. Staats scrambled around before finding the goal line for the two-point conversion.
The offense looked different from the week prior, when it attempted just eight passes but ran the ball 35 times. Foust, who typically takes most of the QB snaps for the Eagles, lined up all over the field while Staats was under center for a good portion of the game. On the night, Staats completed 8-of-12 passes for 69 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
On the pass-heavy approach at times, Mattson said the Eagles were trying to find an offensive spark by mixing things up.
“It's something we know that if we want to have success, we've gotta do something a little different at times,” he said. “Cooper is a tough kid, he's smart, he's worked his butt off all summer. We had confidence, we just had to get him ready to go.”
Foust added 19 yards on 4-of-5 passing and also accounted for 46 rushing yards and 36 receiving yards. Mattson said Foust's versatility and willingness to play multiple positions shows his unselfishness and importance to the team.
“He wasn't too thrilled freshman year when we said he was going to be quarterback but he took it, he worked at it and got good,” he said. “If we can get everyone in the right spots, it'll put our team in the right spot.”
Offensively, sophomore Tim Halley recorded 58 yards on 6 carries while Staats added 10 yards on 4 carries. Kaden Pittman, McIntosh and Jacob Beans also recorded carries. Seven Eagles caught passes. The Eagles gained 180 yards to the Shamrocks' 453.
This Friday, the Eagles travel to Wahoo (2-3). Wahoo dropped a 14-10 contest to Columbus Lakeview last Friday.
