Ravens rally to get past Hawks

EIELSON — The Eielson Ravens held a seven-point lead at halftime against Houston on Sunday afternoon at Buck Nystrom Field.

The Ravens defense shut out the Hawks in the second half as they topped Houston 42-13 in an Aurora Conference game on Eielson Air Force Base.

The Ravens defense held the Hawks to 17 yards of offense and forced three turnovers in the second half as they clinched the Aurora Conference title on a rainy afternoon.

“We just kind of got our heads in the game,” Ravens senior tight end/defensive end Dillon Scarboro said. “First half, we weren’t really there. We were shocked a little bit. We gathered ourselves after that (first) half in the room and came back out and hit them.”

The Hawks had 254 yards of offense in the first half.

The Ravens, the defending small schools state champions, are the first Aurora Conference champions after realignment in high school football created two small schools conferences.

“It’s definitely something that we’re proud of,” junior quarterback Antonio Griffith said. “We just have to use this as motivation to keep moving forward.”

Scarboro was the beneficiary of one of the Hawks’ second half turnovers.With 10:06 left in the fourth quarter, Scarboro scooped up a fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown.

“I just saw Austin Edson, No. 54, just come in and hit the guy and the ball goes flying,” Scarboro said. “I picked up the ball and it’s right there.”

Scarboro scored three touchdowns in total in the second half. Scarboro caught a 29-yard pass from Griffith with 6:15 left in the third quarter. The two connected again with 6:12 left in the game for a 25-yard score.

Griffith went 3 of 7 passing for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He also added another score on the ground.

The Ravens (6-1, 3-0 Aurora Conference) and Hawks went scoreless in the first quarter before the offenses got going in the second quarter. The Hawks opened the scoring 12 seconds into the second quarter when Robert Ritter connected with Dakota Watson on a 67-yard touchdown pass.

Ritter and Watson would connect on a 59-yard pass later in the quarter for the Hawks (3-4, 1-2 Aurora Conference).

“The catches, they were pretty good catches,” Griffith said. “We would have to give it to the receiver. He made some good catches.”

Caleb Velez got the Ravens on the board with a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:24 left in the second.

“At the beginning of the game, we hadn’t really expected rain. We hadn’t played in rain all week,” Griffith said. “We had some snow but it just took a little bit to adjust to it, for running backs and their cuts, for me and the snap and everything like that. It just took awhile to adjust to that. Once we got it, we knew what we had to do and we started rolling.”

Griffith scored on a 16-yard run to put the Ravens up 1-7 with 3:14 left in the first half. Kalib Dunlap gave the Ravens a 20-13 halftime lead with a 60-yard run late in the first half.

Dunlap finished with 97 yards rushing on 17 carries for the Ravens, who ran for 214 yards as a team.

Ben Pelesasa led the Hawks with 97 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Eielson 42, Houston 13

Sept. 27, Eielson Air Force Base

Second Quarter

Houston—Watson 67 pass from Ritter (Ruth kick) 11:48.

Eielson—Velez 4 run (kick failed) 7:24.

Eielson—Griffith 16 run (kick failed) 3:14.

Houston—Watson 59 pass from Ritter (kick blocked) 2:39.

Eielson—Dunlap 60 run (Griffith run) 2:17.

Second Quarter

Eielson—Scarboro 29 pass from Griffith (Velez run) 6:15.

Fourth Quarter

Eielson—Scarboro 20 fumble return (Paul kick) 10:06.

Eielson—Scarboro 25 pass from Griffith (Paul kick) 6:12.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Houston: Pelasasa 17-97, Griffeth 11-75, Jirik 1-1, No. 26 1-0, No. 18 1-(-3), Ritter 2-(-13), Taylor 7-(-26). Eielson: Dunlap 17-97, Velez 13-55, North 5-41, Griffith 9-21.

PASSING—Houston: Taylor 2-6-2—16, Ritter 2-3-1—126. Eielson: Griffith: 3-7-0—89.

RECEIVING—Houston: Watson 3-129, Jirik 1-13.Eielson: Scarboro 2-54, North 1-35.