Keller defense comes up big late to beat Eaton, stay undefeated in district opener

The Keller Indians defense made its biggest stop of the night when it mattered most as the squad left Northwest ISD Stadium on Friday still undefeated with a 35-28 win over the host Haslet Eaton Eagles in a district opener for both teams.

With just 38 seconds remaining in the game, Eagles quarterback Noah Lugo took the snap on third-and-goal from Keller’s 12-yard-line. Defensive back Ryan Ventura came free on the blitz jarring the ball loose as he buried Lugo into the turf. Indian defensive end Drew Driggers scrambled on the ground to cover up the loose ball to bring Eaton’s attempted comeback to an end.

Keller (4-0, 1-0 in District 4-6A) went up by a pair of touchdowns twice in the game. Each time the Indians would begin to put some distance between themselves and the home team on the scoreboard, but the Eagles (1-3, 0-1) willed themselves back into the game.

The Indians took a 35-21 advantage late in the third quarter when Keller running back Jayden Hart scored his third touchdown of the night with a tremendous second effort to get across the goal line from six yards out. Hart’s previous two touchdowns came with just 19 seconds left in the first to put his team up 14-7 and with 5:16 left in the third as Keller went up 28-21, respectively.

Both offenses were stifled early in the fourth until Eaton put together an 8-play, 79-yard drive that was capped off by an 8-yard run by Eagles running back Demarion Williams-Franklin on a stellar second effort of his own. The score with 3:17 remaining in the game put the Eagles within striking distance with all three timeouts in its pocket.

Clock management was the name of the game for Eaton as Keller took over possession on its own 20 following the ensuing kickoff. The Eagles burned a pair of timeouts while denying the Indians a first down on the drive.

Keller opted to punt the ball away on fourth-and-3 from its own 27 to force Eaton to charge down the long field to tie the game up late. The Eagles took over from their own 35-yard line with 2:42 left on the clock and a single time out remaining in the holster.

The Indians defense racked up three devastating penalties on the Eagles final drive that assisted Eaton in getting deep into Keller territory. With a first-and-goal from Keller’s 5, Ja’mari Harris took the hand off running the rock all the way to the half-yard-line before being brought down.

However, a false start by the offense on the next play pushed the Eagles in the wrong direction with time dwindling down. On second-and-goal from the 5, the Indians came up with a big defensive play as Logan Fowler broke through the line to drop Lugo in the backfield for a sack that cost Eaton seven yards on the play. On third down Ventura and Driggers teamed up to clip the Eagles wings.

Big plays and busted coverage aided both offenses during the game.

Keller quarterback Tre Guerra (Central Arkansas commit) threw a pair of long touchdown passes. The first of which came just a minute into the game that put the Indians up early. The second was a 35-yard strike to wide receiver Tre’ Griffiths giving Keller a two-score cushion early in the third quarter.

Not to be outdone, Lugo took the ball on a quarterback keeper up the middle before scrambling 76 yards for the early touchdown for Eaton that tied the game at 7 with 6:29 left in the first.

In the second quarter, Lugo worked some more magic as the Indians defense bit on a play action pass that left Mason Stubbe wide open for the 51-yard pitch and catch with 4:42 left in the half.