Photos by Mike Maddock Aipor t quar terback W.T. Murden tr ies to escape the grasp of Dreher’s Jordan Dreher. After a slow start to the game, the Airport Eagles put together three scores in the third quarter to pull away from Dreher and defeat the Blue Devils 48–7 Friday October 23. Airport quarterback W.T. Murden completed 17–of– 23 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Ryan Smith helped Murden by rushing for 164 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

The Blue Devils were led by running backs Sheldon Van Dyke and Leonard Kennedy. Van Dyke rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Kennedy ran for 61 yards on 16 carries.

The Eagles started the game with a series of passes from Murden to both Josh Salley and Deonne Hopkins to get the ball into Dreher territory. Then Murden and Smith moved the ball on the ground, gaining a total of 19 yards, to get Airport in scoring position. Murden finished the drive with a 12–yard touchdown strike to Derek Cushman giving Airport an early 7–0 lead.

Dreher’s Leonard Kennedy runs for yardage against Airport. The score remained until early in the second quarter when the Eagles started a drive at the Dreher 35–yard line. Murden ran for five yards, then handed it off to Smith to finish the drive. Smith had four carries for 30 yards including a one–yard plunge for the score extending the lead to 14–0 for Airport.

It appeared that would be the score going into halftime until a late Airport possession. After two runs got the ball out to the Airport 30 yard line, Murden hit three passes in a row to get the ball into Dreher territory. Later in the drive, Murden went to Cushman twice on passes of eight and ten yards to get the ball inside the Dreher 15 yard line. Four plays later, Murden finished the drive with an 11–yard pass to Hopkins to give Airport a 21–0 lead at halftime.

Airport’s Ryan Smith escapes the tackle of Dreher’s James Davis Gadson. The Blue Devils received the ball to start the second half, but the Eagles intercepted the Dreher pass and returned it to the Blue Devils’ 33 yard line. It took the Eagles four plays to get the ball to the Dreher ten yard line, highlighted by an eight– yard run by Smith and a 12–yard pass from Murden to Salley. Smith finished the drive with a ten– yard run, giving Airport a 28–0 lead.

On the next possession for Dreher, the Blue Devils fumbled on the first play of the drive. The Eagles recovered the ball at the Dreher 27 yard line. A seven–yard run by Smith and an 18–yard pass from Murden to Cushman gave Airport a first–and–goal at the Dreher two yard line. Fullback Sam McClellan ran into the end zone for the two yard score, widening the lead to 35–0.

Later in the quarter, Smith took a handoff at the Airport 22 yard line and ran down the Airport sideline 78 yards for the score. The extra point was no good, holding the score at 41–0 in favor of the Eagles.

The Blue Devils got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter with a 65–yard, 13–play drive that began at the end of the third quarter and finished at the beginning of the fourth. The drive consisted mostly of Van Dyke and Kennedy rushing the football. Van Dyke capped off the drive with an eight– yard run, cutting the lead to 41–7.

The Eagles put one more score up to finish off the game. Running back Davon Howell took advantage of his playing time by scampering 54 yards for a late touchdown. The extra point was good to give Airport a 48–7 win.