Ravens wear down Hawks

HOUSTON — A torn thumb ligament forced Eielson running back Antonio Griffith into a cast that rendered his left hand essentially a club in two critical fumbles that cost his team dearly in the first half.

But on what proved to be the game-winning drive, Griffith and his one good hand made what proved to be the play of the game, as going to the ground, he reached the ball over his head and beyond the line to gain on a fourth-and-five. Two plays later, quarterback Jerimiah Brown sneaked in from the one with what proved to be the winning score in the visitors’ 27-21 win at Houston High on Friday.

“It’s just about knowing the situation and knowing what I have to give,” said Griffith, who missed the last two weeks with the injury. “I saw I had to get five so I was gonna get six. I kept my feet moving, and the hole wasn’t huge, but I knew my guys would get me in position to get that first down.”

That run moved the ball to Hawks’ 14, and a 13-yard run by Jaydenn Manibusan set up Brown’s plunge to break a 21-21 tie and give the Ravens their first lead of the night with 2:28 to go.

Houston’s last chance ended when Brown intercepted the pass of Paul Sanderlin at the 59 second mark.

In the early going, however, the game was all Houston’s.

A punishing Ben Pelesasa run of 42 yards that dismissed seven would-be Eielson tacklers along the way took it to the 5, where on the next play, Pelesasa plowed his way in and then booted the point after to make it 7-0.

Pelesasa then scored on defense, scooping up a Griffith fumble and rumbling 64 yards to paydirt to make it 13-0 with four minutes gone by.

Another Griffith fumble thwarted a Raven drive in Hawk territory again, but this time the Eielson defense held, setting up a 40-yard touchdown run by Tobias Dobashi-Noa to make it 13-7.

A safety made it 15-7 Houston, and after a 6-yard touchdown run by Brown cut it to 15-13 with two minutes to go before halftime, the Hawks pulled out some razzle-dazzle to an exceptional result.

A halfback bomb from Paul Sanderlin to Silas Ross, who had gotten well behind the Eielson defense landed in stride for a 74-yard touchdown pass that sent the Hawks to the locker room up 21-13 and full of momentum.

But the second half belonged to the Ravens, as the rest of the game was played almost entirely on Houston’s side of the field. The Hawks managed just 16 yards the last 24 minutes, and when Brown improvised his way into a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mathew Scarboro, and Dobashi-Noa carried in the conversion try, Eielson had tied it at 21-21 with 6:43 left in the third.

“We watched a lot of film on them and coach (Jared) Barrett had a good game plan, but when we ran out of those plays it really got tough for us,” Houston head coach Glenn Nelson said. “We’ve got to do a better job on our offensive line getting holes for running backs.”

The win puts Eielson in the driver’s seat in the race for the Aurora Conference title. Houston fell to 3-2, 1-1 in conference, while Eielson is 4-1, 2-0 in league.

“(After halftime) Their (line)backers started flowing to the ball a little more and running some line stunts we had trouble picking up,” Nelson said. “But we’ll watch a lot of film and hope to see them again.”

Pelesasa led the Houston offense with 82 yards on 18 carries. The rest of the team’s rushing total was -8. The Hawks ran just 14 plays from scrimmage in the second half.

The Ravens amassed 250 yards rushing on 56 attempts, led by Griffith, who had 93 yards on 20 carries, and no second-half fumbles.

“I dropped a couple of pitches and it was tough; definitely had to get adjusted to (the cast),” Griffith said. “We definitely had to adjust and give a lot more than we even expected we could give. That’s probably the most physical game I’ve seen our guys play.”

In what was touted as possibly the biggest regular season game in Houston High history, the Hawks were plagued by penalties, particularly procedural penalties that proved to be drive-killers. Houston drew 13 flags for 100 yards.

“The guys were a little jacked up and nervous; things got a little emotional for us,” Nelson said. “But we were playing for a banner here, it’s our home field — it felt like a big game.”

Eielson 27, Houston 21

Friday, Wasilla High School

First quarter

Houston — Pelesasa 5 run. (Pelesasa kick) 10:49

Houston — Pelesasa 64 fumble return. (Kick blocked) 8:13

Second quarter

Eielson — Dobashi-Noa 40 run. (Kick good) 10:16

Houston — Elective safety. 6:01

Eielson —Brown 6 run. (Run failed) 1:56

Houston — Ross 76 pass from Sanderlin. (Kick failed) :26.

Third quarter

Eielson — Scarboro 15 pass from Brown. (Dobashi-Noa run) 6:43

Fourth quarter

Eielson — Brown 1 run. (Kick failed) 2:28.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Eielson: Griffith 20-92, Manibusan 15-72, Brown 13-32, Dobashi-Noa 9-90, Kovacs 1-0. Houston: Pelesasa 18-82, Croghan 5-10, Murrin 6-(-10), Sanderlin 1-(-4), Ritter 1-(-5).

PASSING — Eielson: Brown 2-3-0—24. Houston: Sanderlin 1-2-1—76, Ritter 0-3-0­—0.

RECIVING — Eielson: Scarboro 1-15, Griffith 1-9. Houston: Ross 1-76.