Plainsmen to travel to Black Hills for non-league matchup this week

Evergreen Plainsmen (2-1, 1-0 3A GSHL)

Week 1: Evergreen 26, Columbia River 13
Week 2: Heritage 34, Evergreen 7
Week 3: Evergreen 12, Hudson’s Bay 7

Next: Evergreen at Black Hills, 7 p.m.

The Plainsmen got a jump on the rest of the 3A GSHL with a win in the first league game of the schedule.

Incredible defensive effort:

Evergreen held Hudson’s Bay, a team that had scored 65 points the first two weeks, to a single touchdown.

Miguel Cruz had an interception at the 2-yard line just before the end of the first half.

 

 

Jerontae “Boogie” Burns had an interception on the first series of the second half, which led to an Evergreen field goal and the final points of the game.

And David Crawford got the final interception, on Bay’s final, desperation-mode drive in the final seconds of the game.

Rae Farr, meanwhile, seemed to be all over the field, making plays.

He had a tackle-for-loss in the first half for a loss of 6 yards, which led to the Eagles punting the ball the next play. Without the the lost yardage, it is likely the Eagles would have gone for a first down on fourth down. That play changed a possession.

In the third quarter, with Bay moving to the Evergreen 30-yard line, Farr made another tackle-for-loss to stall another drive.

Final minute:

Bay took over on its 20-yard line in the final minute, trailing by five points.

The Plainsmen got even more defensive.

It looked to me that Nick Rossmeisl and Nate Fuatagavi met the quarterback at the same time and combined for the sack on first down.  

On second down, Miguel Cruz had perfect coverage on the receiver and the pass was incomplete.

On third down, a great pass rush led to a hurried pass attempt and another incompletion.

Fourth down, another strong rush, and this time the pass was intercepted by David Crawford.

“All of us knew we had to give 110 percent right there. We had to give it everything right there,” Farr said. “The whole game (before) didn’t matter. Just those last seconds.”

Catching a break:

Evergreen did get a decision to go its way at the end of the first half. My analysis on that situation can be found on the Hudson’s Bay weekly report.

Back-to-back plays for Hodzic:

Evergreen kicked a field goal (freshman Ely Del Angel) and then lined up to kick off to the Eagles in the second quarter. It was not an onside kick but it worked just as well. A short kick. The ball found the turf and it was anybody’s to get. Nadil Hodzic made the recovery for the Plainsmen.

He did not have time to get too excited about it, though. He had to play offense.

The next play, quarterback Triston Fich found Hodzic for a 30-yard touchdown and a 9-7 Evergreen lead.

“The next play is the most important,” Hodzic said. “That’s what coach tells us. I settled down (after the fumble recovery) and just focused on my job for the next play.”

Hodzic would finish the night with eight catches for 91 yards. Fich, meanwhile, was 13 of 22 for 124 yards and the game’s only TD pass.

Taking their time:

The Plainsmen had a mixed-bag of results on offense. Both teams struggled against the other team’s defense for much of the night. But when the Plainsmen take their time, they really take their time.

On their first scoring drive, the Plainsmen snapped the ball 16 times and used more than 8 minutes off the clock before the field goal to cut Bay’s lead to four points.

Prior to that, the Plainsmen had gone three-and-out two times.

In the second half, Evergreen did it again. This time, the Plainsmen did not score but certainly kept the Eagles from having a chance to score for a long, long time. Evergreen used 17 plays and nine minutes off the clock while holding a five-point lead.

Coach Speak:

What did Terry Hyde learn about his team in Week 3? “Maintaining focus and effort are key.”

MVP on offense: Nadil Hodzic with all his catches and the touchdown.

MVP on defense: Nick Rossmeisl. Besides being part of that last-minute sack, he had three other tackles-for-loss.

Thoughts on Week 4 vs. Black Hills: “Traditional playoff team, plays in a very tough league,’’ Hyde said. “Looking forward to the challenge.”

Black Hills defeated Evergreen last year.