Rusk defeats Crockett on the road 47-21

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, September 4, 2021

CROCKETT — In what looked like an equal matchup throughout the first quarter and majority of the second quickly turned into an Eagles’ game going into halftime. Rusk scored two touchdowns late in the second quarter to go into the break ahead by 13 points.

When the Eagles took the field for the second half they were ready to claim their second win of the season and headed home with a 47-21 victory.

Quarterback Owen McCown completed 19 of 28 passing attempts for 284 yards and two touchdowns. He added 43 yards rushing. Leading the rushing game was Jermaine Session, with 21 touches for a staggering 150 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Chris Perez, with 17 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide receiver Heston Kelly totaled 13 catches for 132 yards with junior Aiden McCown following with two catches for 61. Will Dixon had a catch for 24 yards and Trey Devereaux had a reception for 14 yards that resulted in a touchdown.

Eagles defensive standouts include Caleb Ferrara and Tarrant Sunday with 10 tackles, Nathaniel Yancey with seven, and Brayden Brucia with six.

Rusk head coach Thomas Sitton said some adjustments were made going into the second half and the team came out ready to play.

“Defensively we made some adjustment to some formations that we had not seen on film and the kids responded well in the second half. I also thought the offense did a great job of controlling the clock in the second half,” Sitton said.

Sitton added although he was thrilled to open the season with two wins, there was still much room for improvement.

“I’m so proud of the two wins so far but we have plenty to work on. I thought the offense executed better tonight but we gave up too many big plays on defense. Our PAT team needs the most work; we are not consistent at all right now,” he said. “But the kids did a great job focusing this week in practice and came ready to play tonight.”

Senior running back Chris Perez, who put two touchdowns on the scoreboard, said it felt good to win on the road and thought the team played well.

“It feels great. Winning on the road is always a plus and our team came out focused and ready to go to battle with one another and we came out with an all around great team W,” Perez said. “It all starts up front. Our offensive line played tremendous tonight, they made the plays happen. Our defense came out and played great tonight, they made key stops when we needed them and got the ball back to the offense,”

Perez went on to say none of it would be possible without the coaches.

“No way can I forget the coaching staff, we have great coaches who prepared us to come out and execute the way we did tonight,” he said.

Rusk will host Palestine next on Sept. 10 while Crockett will travel to Buffalo.