Eastern Hancock’s Elijah Edon hands off to Evan Wheeler against Milan earlier in the season. On Friday, the Royals lost 21-14 to Centerville in the sectional quarterfinals.
Mike Brown | For the Daily Reporter
CENTERVILLE — After a deep postseason run last year, and a lot of key players returning, Eastern Hancock had its sight set on some big things this year.
In the win-or-go-home IHSAA football state tournament things are never easy.
When quarterback Elijah Edon’s heave to the end zone on fourth down in the closing seconds hit the ground, the Royals hopes of another playoff run were shattered in a 21-14 loss to the host Centerville Bulldogs in a quarterfinal round game of Class 2A Sectional 38.
“This is not the vision that I had. I thought all year long that we had opportunities to do some great things. This is hard,” head coach Pat Echeverria said emotionally. “This senior group is just really special. When you hit that third year with a group of kids, you just know each other so well. To know that they’re not going to be coming out to battle with us next year hurts my heart. But with that being said, the men that I see them becoming is what makes me the most proud as a coach.”
With 1:21 on the clock, the Bulldogs scored the game-winning touchdown.
A chop block penalty pushed Centerville back to the Royals 36-yard line and set up third-and-28 with just 1:32 on the clock.
With all momentum seemingly in the Royals favor, Centerville wide receiver Maddox Pritchett snatched both the ball and all the life out of the Eastern Hancock sideline.
Quarterback Jace Hollendonner lobbed the ball up into double coverage in the back of the end zone for what looked to be either an interception or an incomplete pass.
Pritchett went up between two defenders and came down with the ball while falling to the ground for the go-ahead touchdown.
“They threw it up to a good player and he just went and made a play. We had two or three guys right there,” Echeverria said. “I’m watching it and just thinking that it’s going to be incomplete and fourth down. The kid just made a spectacular play.”
The Royals drove downfield in the final 1:21 and got down to the 25-yard line with 42 seconds left, but a holding penalty backed them up and a low snap with rain coming down forced the Royals to use their final timeout at the 35-yard line with 24 seconds on the clock.
A short pass to Luke Manship set up fourth down and after a scramble to the line, Edon’s pass to the end zone was broken up by the Bulldogs.
“They weren’t going to give us anything down the field, so we took the short stuff,” Echeverria said. “The penalty hurt a bit there and I think we just ran out of time.”
In what was a physical, defensive battle, the game opened with back-to-back scores.
The Royals received the opening kickoff and found the end zone in three plays. Edon broke free from an apparent sack and found Luke Manship on a 26-yard touchdown strike.
Centerville answered on the first connection between Pritchett and Hollendonner.
With 7:07 remaining in the opening period, the duo connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass.
The offenses slowed down until just before the half.
After stopping the Eastern Hancock offense on fourth down with 2:35 to go before the break, the Bulldogs drove 66 yards in five plays for the score.
Jeremiah Mull ran it in from 15 yards out with just under a minute to play for the 14-6 lead.
Following the score, the Eastern Hancock defense forced three straight punts and a turnover on downs.
“Two physical teams, and I think we were both beat up there at the end. Our guys were flying around and they’re going to remember playing us for sure,” Echeverria said. “The progress that our defense made from Week 1 to now was awesome to see. That’s a testament to the kids and our defensive coaches.”
The Royals tied the game at 14 on their opening drive of the second half after an Ethan Carter sack forced the Bulldogs to punt.
An 11-play, 72-yard scoring drive was capped off by an Edon 3-yard run and the conversion to Eli Manship brought the Royals even.
The touchdown was the final for a typically high-scoring Eastern Hancock offense. On nine possessions, they found the end zone just twice.
“They’re just athletic and pursue the ball well and they don’t give up plays over the top. They force you to drive the field and we were able to do that, but we just didn’t finish some drives,” Echeverria said. “Just a couple of times we didn’t capitalize, but man, the fight tonight.”
With things tied at 14 midway through the third quarter, Eli Manship returned a Centerville punt inside the 30-yard line, but a block in the back on the return, a false start, and then a 10-yard loss on the following play killed all the Royals momentum.
“When you play an athletic, good team that’s really fast, sometimes you hold and that’s what most of the penalties were. We had a few procedural penalties and just a little bit of sloppiness, but most of the penalties didn’t have a huge impact on us,” Echeverria said. “There were definitely a couple though that were really key.”
Edon finished the night with 137 yards passing, one touchdown and two interceptions. He ran for 53 yards and one score.
Running back Mark Kube carried the ball 19 times for 84 yards, Eli Manship caught eight passes for 57 yards and Luke Manship finished with 35 yards and a touchdown.
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Centerville 21, Eastern Hancock 14
Eastern Hancock (5-5);6;0;8;0; — ;14
Centerville (9-1);8;6;0;7; —;21
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
EH — Luke Manship 26 pass from Elijah Edon (kicked failed), 10:48
C — Maddox Pritchett 18 pass from Jace Hollendonner (Pritchett pass from Hollendonner), 7:07
2nd Quarter
C — Jeremiah Mull 15 run (Mull kick), :53
3rd Quarter
EH — Edon 3 run (Eli Manship pass from Edon), 4:57
4th Quarter
C — Pritchett 36 pass from Hollendonner (Mull kick), 1:21
