WOOD RIVER - For their second games of the season, the Civic Memorial Eagles and East Alton-Wood River Oilers went head-to-head Friday night at East Alton-Wood River High School. Under the bright lights of Wood River’s stadium, the Eagles shut out the home team 28-0. Regardless of the outcome, Oiler’s head coach Garry Herron says, “I think we gave them (the Eagles) all they wanted.”
After a back-and-forth first half, the Eagle’s Logan Turbyfill scored the game’s first touchdown with 30-seconds left in the second quarter. That play jump-started the Eagles’ offense according to Coach Parmentier.
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“We didn’t play really well in the first half. We got that touchdown right before halftime and I thought that was big,” said Coach Parmentier.
The Eagles pulled away from their Friday night opponents thanks to great performances not only by Turbyfill, but also by quarterback Braden Arview, halfback Nick Brousseau, and wide-receiver Nick Williams. Arview, Brousseau, and Williams contributed with rushing touchdowns for the purple, white, and gold.
“Second half, we played a lot better,” said Parmentier. “We got our running game established and our defense shut them down.”
On top of shutting down the offense of the Oilers, the Eagles wore down Wood River’s players.
“We needed to stay aggressive in the game to stay competitive in the game,” Herron said. “I think fatigue definitely played a factor. Our defense was on the field a lot and they started sending more pressure in the second half.” No matter how much fight and effort the Oilers had to give, it just wasn’t enough to withstand the Eagles’ physicality.
“We have been stressing conditioning all year. We are playing 20-25 guys, so they have to be in shape. We wore them down in the second half and that’s a credit to the guys who do a great job with weightlifting and conditioning,” said Coach Parmentier.
Tempers heated up as the score got further apart. “They were a little upset it was so close. Our guys didn’t back down,” Coach Herron said. Despite Herron’s Oilers giving their best effort, it was the Eagles' relentless offense that would ultimately determine the game. As the exhaustion seeped into East Alton-Wood River players, the emotions shown through. Multiple personal foul penalties were called, and rivalries were confirmed by night's end. It was a natural reaction from two prideful football teams.
Friday night’s temperatures were prettier than the final score of the Civic Memorial - Wood River football game. While the score says one thing, fans witnessed a fun game. Most times a score can reflect the competitiveness of the game, but tonight’s game was not one of those.
As for final words from the two coaches, “East Alton-Wood River has a good team. They did a good job tonight and they played really hard. We are happy to be 2-0 right now but have a tough game against Roxana next Friday,” the Eagles’ head coach Parmentier said.
As for the Oilers, “There are a lot of positives. I am super proud of our guys. They competed hard and never gave up. Our guys fought hard. As long as we can do that, I am confident moving forward in our conference,” said the Oilers’ coach Herron.
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