Eagles in Familiar Position in Conference Race

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Mayflower Eagles have gotten off to a desirable start in 2-3A Conference play.

The Eagles (2-3) are currently sitting at 2-0 in the league, and a winnable game against a struggling Rose Bud club looms Friday night. Next week, the Eagles have a bout with Harding Academy, which could determine first place in the conference standings. After losing its first three games of the season, which came during the nonconference portion of the schedule, Mayflower has become to mount a winning streak.

“Everything has been upbeat,” Mayflower coach Jed Davis said, referring to the mood at practices this week. “It’s exciting to know that we’re in control of our own destiny. Rose Bud runs a similar offense to Harding Academy with the spread. This week will also help us prepare for the Harding Academy game.”

Even though the Eagles’ game with the Wildcats will be televised throughout the state next Thursday, Davis doesn’t want his crew to overlook Rose Bud.

“We’re working on staying focused because we have some goals to meet this week,” Davis said. “We’re setting our sights high. We know that we have to work very hard to do what we want to accomplish.”

The last time the Eagles lost a game in the conference was in 2007 against Harding Academy. Mayflower has won 12 conference games in a row since then, and the Beavers want to put an end to the streak.

“We showed the guys the film of Rose Bud game’s against Riverview,” Davis said. “Rose Bud jumped out ahead 14-0, and they scored on their first two drives. They just marched it down the field and scored, so they showed that they have the ability to go down the field and score out of that spread offense.”

Mayflower running back Demetris Lasker had a big night on the ground last week, turning in one the Eagles’ best single-rushing performances in recent years.

“Demetris is a playmaker,” Davis said. “He’s really starting to see the field on the zone run, and that has helped us the past two weeks. Our O-line had its best game of the year last Friday night. They’re really giving us time on our passing game and they’re opening bigger and better holes on our running game.”

Davis credited first year defensive cordinator David Davenport for the constant improvement of the defense.

“He’s wasn’t a defensive guy playing offensive tackle at (the University of Central Arkransas, but he jumped in head first,” Davis said. “You can see his passion and his enthusiasm for the game and it shows up through the defense.”


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