Before you could blink Friday night, Eldorado had two touchdowns in the game's first six minutes.
Then the Eagles had to hang on and hold off a comeback effort by Hamilton County in winning 14-12 in Week 2 of the spring season.
Eldorado came out of the gate strong when senior quarterback Aiden Whitlock hooked up with Ezra Burtis on a 44-yard pass play to make it 7-0 following a Caleb Lindsey point after attempt and after holding Hamilton County on its next possession, the Eagles struck again when Parker Price ran up the middle for a two-yard run with 6:31 to play, making it 14-0.
The Foxes got on the scoreboard in the first quarter when Darian Pike plowed his way in from two-yards out, but Hamilton County was unable to complete the two-point conversion, making it 14-6.
That score would stand through the better part of three quarters, when Pike once again, found pay dirt -- this time from 15 yards out -- with 9:10 left in the fourth.
Following a pair of interceptions by both clubs in the final eight minutes, the last coming by a Foxes pick of Whitlock, Hamilton County fumbled at the EHS five-yard line with 3:58 to play, giving the Eagles the ball back.
We knew it was going to be a grind," EHS head coach Joe Clark said. "Hamilton County had some big physical kids. We've got some offensive line things were trying to figure out a little bit. We caught some momentum early with some field position and hit a big play. A little slow start and they rallied back. I told the kids at halftime it was going to take guts to win it and that's exactly what they had. They had just a grind in the second half back and forth."
As for the gratuitous break late in the game, grabbing the fumble and running the clock out, Clark acknowledged the timing and the circumstances.
"There's some things we did with that, but sometimes you get the breaks," he said. "When you get them, sometimes it's a mistake on the other side. I couldn't really see it at all from where we were at but obviously what a big play in the game."
Eldorado had 298 yards of total offense, running for 221 as Price led the Eagles with 95 yards on 20 carries. Hamilton County countered with 211 yards with 152 on the ground and 59 through the air.
Eldorado is set to travel to Carmi-White County for the first of two afternoon games Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Eldorado 14 00 00 00 -- 14
Hamilton County 06 00 00 06 -- 12
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
ELD-- Burtis 44-yard pass from Whitlock (Lindsey kick)
ELD--Price 2-yard run (Lindsey Kick), 6:31
HC -- Pike 2-yard run (conversion failed), 3:24
Fourth Quarter
Pike 15-yard run (conversion failed), 9:10
Team Statistics
EHS HCHS
Total Plays 60 49
Total Yards 298 211
Passing Yards 77 59
Rushing Yards 221 152
First Downs 15 11
3rd Down Efficiency 5-12 (42%) 4-10 (40%)
4th Down Efficiency 3-4 (75%) 1-4 (25%)
Turnovers 1 2
Fumbles Lost 0 1
Interceptions Thrown 1 1
Penalties-Yards 5-25 2-6
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: EHS-- Price 20-95 (TD), Burtis 12-77, Whitlock 5-24, Henshaw 5-15, Cantrell 1-10. HCHS-- Pike 15-78, Comstock 11-48, Team 7-26.
PASSING: EHS-- Whitlock 5-11-1 77 (TD). HCHS-- Lueke 6-14-1 59.
RECEIVING: EHS-- Burtis 4-63 (TD), Price 1-14. HCHS -- Karcher 1-25, Bowers 1-24, Pike 2-10, Comstock 2--3.
