El Dorado Flags Down 8-7 Victory Over Cypress

Penalties were the name of the game Friday night as El Dorado upset Cypress, 8-7, in an Empire League game.

The Centurions amassed 99 penalty yards, and the Golden Hawks picked up 44 of their own.

“A very ugly game, but we came out on top,” El Dorado Coach Rick Jones said after his team’s first league victory. “Our defense played hard for four quarters and that’s what did it for us.”

Cypress got on the board first with 9:15 remaining in the half when Justin Rice hit Clarence Moore on a short slant across the middle and Moore turned it into a 73-yard scoring play. Chris Adornetto kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0.

With 29 seconds left in the half, El Dorado (4-5, 1-3 in league) reached the Cypress 18-yard line, but Brian Zurhellen’s pass was intercepted by Mark Crommie to keep the score at 7-0.

El Dorado again challenged in the third quarter, driving to the Cypress eight-yard line, but could not score.

“Our defense made some big plays tonight that kept us in the game,” Cypress Coach Kerry Crabb said.

After threatening all night, the Golden Hawks finally took the lead in the fourth quarter, when running back Roger Guydon scored from six yards with 5:03 left. Then Zurhellen hit Bryce Nebeker in the end zone for the decisive two-point conversion.

“When you make as many mistakes as we made tonight, you can’t expect to win,” Crabb said.

Cypress falls to 2-2 in league (4-5 overall) and needs a victory next week at home against Kennedy for a chance at making the playoffs.