Haslet Eaton rolls in the second half against Keller to remain unbeaten in district play
What a halftime speech Haslet Eaton football coach Ellis Miller must have given.
His Eagles were down by 11 at intermission, but Eaton exploded for 33 unanswered points in the second half to blitz Keller 43-21 in a key District 4-6A game Friday night at Northwest ISD Stadium.
“You don’t want to know, you can’t say that outside of the locker room,” quipped Miller, whose team kept a share of the lead in 4-6A. “I just told them that we had to have a better effort because it was awful. We walked out and acted like we were just going to win the game.
“I told them to not be pointing the finger at anyone, just look at yourself and your own effort. We had a little come to Jesus meeting and they were ready to go in the second half.”
Ready they were. Trailing 21-10 at the half Eaton (6-1 overall, 3-0 district) held Keller (5-2, 1-2) on downs three times, forced two punts and recovered two fumbles after the break.
Eaton running back J.B. Brown opened the scoring for the Eagles in the third quarter with a 66-yard run to cut the Indians’ lead to 21-16 at the 7:30 mark.
“He told us to just stay calm,” said Brown, who led Eaton with 218 rushing yards on 30 carries and three TDs. “We weren’t ready and were in the locker room just playing around before the game. Coach got on us and we came out in the second half and executed and got the win. There ain’t nothing like a good come back story.”
Keller’s Zac O’Day picked off an Eaton pass on the Eagles next possession at the Indians’ 6, but on the ensuing snap a Keller fumble was picked up by Eaton’s Ben Roberts and returned seven yards for a touchdown giving the Eagles a 22-21 lead.
The Eaton defense led by Israel Kiwabonga, Chancellor Owens and Anthony Bee never let the Indians have any space after the half. Keller had 85 total yards in the final two quarters with nine yards rushing on 22 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Noah Lugo was terrific subbing for injured starter Tyler Fussell. Lugo ran for scores of 42 and 4 yards in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Lugo finished with 79 yards rushing on 11 carries and was 10 of 20 for 74 yards through the air.
“Lugo is a stud,” said Miller. “He’s going to be something in the next two years. He didn’t have any doubts and stepped in to be the man this week. He was ready to lead right off the bat and for a 15- to 16-year-old kid that’s pretty good.”
Brown put a stamp on the game with a 21-yard touchdown run with 7:16 left in the game.
The teams traded scores in the first quarter. Eaton converted a 39-yard Dakota Hester field goal and had a 2-yard scoring run by Brown sandwiched around a 46-yard scoring pass from Keller quarterback Tre Guerra to Seth Henry.
Guerra finished with 236 passing yards completing 16 of 26 passes. Amarion Henry caught 11 passes for 111 yards for Keller.
The Indians defense dominated the second quarter forcing four straight three-and-outs by Eaton. Jackson Kraatz, who led the Indians with 101 yards rushing on 13 attempts, followed one punt by darting up the middle for a 53-yard TD to give Keller a 14-10 lead with 7:45 left in the period.
Two minutes later Guerra found David Wagner wide open down the left sideline for a 19-yard touchdown.
But that was it for the Indians. As lop-sided as the first half had been in Keller’s favor the second half swung Eaton’s way and once the Eagles got rolling, they never let up.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 11:59 PM.