East Prairie makes history in win over Charleston

CHARLESTON -- Going in to Friday night's matchup against their county rival, the East Prairie Eagles had a chance to do something that has never been done before.

East Prairie players celebrate after defeating Charleston 55-15 on Friday night in Charleston. (Chris Pobst, Staff)

And they weren't about to let that opportunity slip away.

"We knew coming in that it's never been done," East Prairie Connor Scott said. "We talked about in pre-game and we wanted to make history."

For the first time in school history, the Eagles defeated the Charleston Bluejays three-straight times crushing the winless Bluejays 55-15.

"Coming into this week (beating them three times) was the main thing," East Prairie tight end Mikey Russell said. "We all knew it. It's the first time it's ever happened in our history and we wanted to go down in history."

Not only did they make history, possibly more important they won their first game of district play.

"That relieves a lot of stress," Scott said about getting their first district win. "That first win makes it a lot easier. But, this is just one game in districts. The fight starts here to get in the playoffs. We've got two more games, big games, coming up."

The Eagles seemed to do no wrong while visiting the Bluejays. East Prairie racked up nearly 400 yards of total offense and scored on seven of their nine offensive possessions.

East Prairie went up by 28 points before the Bluejays erased their zero on the scoreboard. Scott's first of four touchdown passes got things going as Aaron Miller hauled in a 14-yard pass with 7:24 remaining in the first quarter.

JT Aycock added a 6-yard run five minutes later to go up by two scores.

Zach Shipman caught Scott's second scoring pass just as the second quarter got under way from eight yards out. JT Aycock rushed for his second of three total touchdowns halfway through the second on a 13-yard run.

"They were very efficient," Charleston head coach Brett Blackman said about the Eagles. "They knew some of the things we were doing and they had an answer for it and we didn't have an answer for anything."

A 10-yard scamper from Charleston quarterback Jamaul Gray put the Bluejays on the board first with 3:30 left in the first half. However, shortly after Gray's run, Charleston tried to get the ball back immediately and opted for an onside kick try. Alan Miller picked up the short kick and drove it down to the Charleston 37-yard line giving the Eagles a short field to work with right before halftime.

Scott hit Shipman again, this time from 21 yards out with just 35 seconds left in the half giving the Eagles a 28-point lead after the first quarter.

"Last week we watched our film and we seen some little things that needed perfected," Scott said about their offensive production. "We really focused on that. Everything was working, the run and pass."

East Prairie's offense was an exact reflection on how well their defense was playing as well. The Eagles forced four turnovers; two of which were interceptions.

Russell capped the game with a 40-yard interception return giving the Eagles their 55 points.

"Our team revolves around defense," said Russell. "Defense is what we live for. Defense is huge for us. It always is."

Scott completed 10-of-16 passes for 186 yards and four passing touchdowns. JT Aycock led the Eagles' rushing attack with 86 yards on eight carries and three touchdowns.

"Really, we played excellent offensively and defensively," Russell said. "We just played a great game all around."

Charleston, however, had trouble getting anything going. It was especially displeasing to Blackman, after coming off their best played game of the year last week.

"We seemed like we were back to weeks two and three," Blackman said. "After coming off of how we performed last week that's really disappointing. We've got to look at why that was like that and adjust."

Maurice Moore paced the Bluejays with 111 rushing yards while quarterback Jamaul Gray rushed for two touchdowns and 53 yards.

Charleston is now staring at an 0-1 start in district play and will face the Malden Green Wave, who lost to Caruthersville 42-40 in their first district matchup.

Adding to making school history, East Prairie will go into next week with the anticipation of playing state-ranked Caruthersville.

"Anytime you can start out 1-0 in districts it's always a good feeling," East Prairie head coach Jason Aycock said. "But the thing about it is, we have our two toughest tests coming up. These next two weeks are going to be very tough. All we can do is get film on them, break them down, put a game plan together and go out there and execute the best we possibly can.

"Hopefully, we can come out victorious."

East Prairie 14 21 0 20 -- 55

Charleston 0 7 8 0 -- 15

First Quarter

E -- Aaron Miller 14 pass from Connor Scott (Frankie Nave kick), 7:24

E -- JT Aycock 6 run (Nave kick), 2:17

Second Quarter

E -- Zach Shipman 8 pass from Connor Scott (Nave kick), 11:54

E -- JT Aycock 13 run (Nave kick), 5:50

C -- Jamaul Gray 10 run (Ethan Browning kick), 3:03

E -- Zach Shipman 21 pass from Connor Scott (Nave kick), 0:35

Third Quarter

C -- Jamaul Gray 6 run (Krushon Scott pass from Gray), 0:56

Fourth Quarter

E -- Zach Shipman 13 pass from Connor Scott (Nave kick), 11:48

E -- JT Aycock 11 run (Nave kick), 9:36

E -- Mikey Russell 40 interception return (kick failed), 5:38

TEAM STATISTICS

E C

First Downs 14 4

Rushes-Yards 31-196 39-223

Comp-Att-Int 10-16-0 2-7-3

Passing Yards 186 24

Total Yards 382 247

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-3

Penalties-Yards 6-16 10-51

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

East Prairie -- Aaron Miller 15-63, JT Aycock 8-86, Zach Shipman 5-20, Connor Scott 2-20, Dalton Golightly 1-7. Charleston -- Jamaul Gray 17-53, Maurice Moore 16-111, Claude Armstrong 4-43, Krushon Scott 3-2.

Passing

East Prairie -- Connor Scott 10-16-0 186. Jamaul Gray 2-7-3 24.

Receiving

East Prairie -- Mikey Russell 1-59, Aaron Miller 2-26, Zach Shipman 3-40, Phillip Latomondeer 2-30, Jesse Soto 1-18. Charleston -- Claude Armstrong 1-17, Maurice Moore 1-7.