WATONGA — The Watonga Eagles this season have practically mastered the art of the comeback victory, with thrilling late-game heroics sealing wins last week against Crescent and in September at Minco.
Fortunately, the Eagles didn't need any of that comeback magic on Friday, as they cruised to a 44-12 win over North Rock Creek on Homecoming night.
Homecoming King Joe Jackson had another huge performance for the Eagles, racking up 443 yards in the air on 16 for 24 passing and six touchdowns. He also ran for 103 yards and a score.
Jackson threw touchdown passes of 66, 61, 49, 40, 33 and 29 yards on Friday, aided by several busted coverages from the Cougars. Three of those touchdowns were caught by Deondre Dunn; Chris Sanders, Phoenix Whiteshirt and Ivan Carmona caught one TD apiece.
Caymon Wieczorrek rushed for 33 yards on seven carries for Watonga, as well.
The good times started on Watonga's very first possession. Jackson scrambled for 19 yards to convert a third down, and the Eagles overcame a holding penalty to pick up another. From there, Jackson connected with Dunn for a 33-yard score despite Dunn being interfered with by a Cougars defensive back.
Watonga kicked an extra point successfully for the first time all season and went ahead 7-0.
The teams traded punts for the remainder of the first quarter until Watonga took the ball with about a minute to go in the frame. Jackson found Dunn for a huge 43-yard gain, but shortly after Jackson threw a pick and the drive looked to be over.
But not so fast — North Rock Creek ran the interception back and then fumbled it away to Dakota Morris. Watonga looked to be back in business, but three straight penalties effectively killed its drive.
North Rock Creek finally found the end zone on its ensuing drive, but missed the two-point conversion to keep the score at 7-6.
Watonga scored again to answer the Cougars — another Jackson-Dunn special — but allowed North Rock Creek to score again immediately by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. It was 13-12 Watonga with about 7 minutes left in the first half, and it looked like the game would be a back-and-forth nail-biter.
The Cougars didn't score again.
Watonga added two more touchdowns before the half and didn't grant the Cougars so much as a first down. They entered the half up 25-12, picked off a North Rock Creek pass early in the third quarter (Sanders nabbed the interception), and pulled ahead 31-12 on their ensuing possession, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Head Coach Skylar Watson praised his team and the various players who made a difference after the game. "At the end of the day, we want to have diversity," Watson said. "We want a lot of guys touching the ball and making plays. Tonight we were able to get some guys making some plays for us, which was huge.
"Hopefully we'll continue to grow. Joe's getting more confident in his receivers, so hopefully we'll continue to keep this thing moving. Again, it all comes back to 'E plus R equals O'" — Event plus Response equals Outcome — "and our kids are trusting the process. I'm really, really impressed with how they've responded."
Watonga is now 6-2 overall, though Friday's win did not count toward its 1-2 District record. The Eagles return this Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. with a road game against Oklahoma Christian Academy.