Eagles shut out Cougars

By Brian Eller -- beller@nvdaily.com

BERRYVILLE -- On Friday night, Clarke County finally ran into a team that could contain its high-powered offense.

For 30 minutes anyway. After being held to just 7 points through the first two quarters, Clarke County exploded for 34 points in the second half en route to a 41-0 win over Manassas Park.

"I'll tell you what, at the beginning of the game [Manassas Park] was controlling the line of scrimmage," Clarke County coach Chris Parker said. "They were winning the leverage game and I think our guys finally wised up and started playing a little bit harder in the second half. We finally did what we had to do, but my hats off to them. They played us tough."

Behind a strong rushing attack, the Cougars used their opening drive to wear down the Clarke County defense. Running backs Michael Williams and John Byrd traded handoffs, helping the Cougar offense move the ball into Eagles' territory. That early success in the running game allowed Manassas Park to open up the passing game, too. Facing a third-and-5, wide receiver Carlos Lazo caught a 15-yard pass from quarterback Corey Swanson, extending the drive for the Cougars and leaving the Eagles defense scrambling to prevent an opening score.

Clarke County's defense eventually forced a stop, but as the opening quarter continued, the Eagles' offense also found itself struggling to move the ball. An offense that has relied on big plays from their running back/quarterback duo of Sam and Zach Shiley, the Eagles were forced to chip away at the Cougars defense and rely on winning the battle up front.

"They obviously prepared well," Sam Shiley said. "They stopped us on a fourth-and-inches which is pretty surprising when you've seen what we've done so far. I don't know, things just didn't really click tonight. It's sad when you can say that when you win 41-0, but it's true."

Despite the struggles on offense, Clarke County went into halftime nursing a 7-0 lead after Sam Shiley scored on a two-yard run with two minutes left in the first quarter. Just before the half, however, Manassas Park coach David Coccoli received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which after being added on to start the second half, would likely give the Eagles preferable field position.

It may have seemed like a trivial penalty by the Cougars' head coach, but it turned out the mistake was a sign of things to come for the visiting team. After containing the Eagles on defense and finding some success on the ground with its offense, Manassas Park unraveled in the second half. With the ball deep in their own territory, Swanson was picked off by cornerback Zach Shiley, who returned the interception 19 yards for the touchdown, giving Clarke County a 14-0 lead midway through the third.

The Eagles added two more scores before the end of the third quarter, as Zach Shiley scored on an 18-yard run and connected on a 20-yard pass to tight end Billy Parker to all but secure the win for Clarke County. Two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, a one-yard run by Sam Shiley and a 25-yard run by Jeremy Rhoads put the final stamp on the outcome, helping the Eagles to improve their record to 9-0 and keeping their hopes of a perfect season intact.

"We came out sloppy, but an ugly win is always better than a pretty loss," Zach Shiley said. "We'll take that. ... You know you're not always going to have those three- and four-play long drives and you have to pound it down. And when we face good teams like that in the playoffs then we're going have to do that and we just can't rely on the big plays. We have to keep our head on straight."

Friday night marked the sixth straight game in which both Sam and Zach Shiley found the end zone, and both have scored multiple touchdowns in five of the Eagles' last six games. After scoring five touchdowns each of the last two weeks, Sam Shiley was limited to two scores, while Zach Shiley put up three touchdowns. But for each of them, they realize their team can't afford to start as flat as they did Friday night, and as captains, it's their job to make sure it doesn't become a habit.

"There are 16 seniors on this team, and I'm one of the four captains," Sam Shiley said, "And I feel like I should take it upon myself to get the team motivated and get them ready for the game. We weren't ready to play tonight."