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Where Eagles Dare Mail Tribune photo/Drew Fleming Eagle Point picks up first win of the season By Greg Stiles EAGLE POINT � This time, when opportunity winged its way toward the Eagle Point Eagles, they made it count. Eagle Point intercepted three passes and turned all of them into touchdowns Friday night in handing visiting Crater a 26-7 Southern Oregon Conference football setback. The Eagles frittered aw-ay a variety of opportunities in a 21-14 non-conference loss to Mountain View of Bend a week earlier, but not this time. "Last we-ek, we had trouble cashing in on turnovers," said Eagle Point quarterback Kyle Gray. "We knew that was the biggest thing tonight." The victory was the first in four outings for the Eagles, who improved to 1-2 in SOC play, while Crater fell to 0-3 in conference and 0-4 overall. Crater junior Derek Petersen made his first start at quarterback, following a season-ending knee injury to P.J. Price. Junior linebacker Sam Dodenhoff snagged two of Petersen�s passes and Greg Horn leaped high for a third as Eagle Point�s defense repeatedly shortened the field for Gray and Co. "I was happy we were able to put a few more points on the board tonight," Eagle Point coach Mike Johnston said. "Last week, the offense moved the ball, but we didn�t convert on our scoring opportunities." Gray completed 11 of 21 passes for 185 yards, while Victor Shelton added 101 rushing yards and two TDs on 16 carries. Eagle Point managed a 292-273 advantage in total offense. More importantly, the Eagles avoided turnovers. "Sometimes you have to create your own breaks and we didn�t do that tonight," said Crater coach Randy Heath. "They put the ball up for grabs, and we didn�t come up with it. Eagle Point�s longest drive of the night � 66 yards in seven plays � culminated with its first score as tailback Shelton skirted the right side to score from the Crater 1. The big play was Gray�s 38-yard completion to Horn on a third-and-5 from the EP 48. Andrew Norum made a saving tackle at the 14. Shelton took over from there, packing the ball on the next three plays. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior hauled in a pass from Gray for a two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 3:31 remaining in the first quarter. Then it was Dodenhoff�s turn just after Crater crossed the midfield stripe. With Eagle Point defensive end Erik Nackenrud draped around his legs, Petersen threw into traffic. Dodenhoff grabbed it just outside his 40 and returned it to the Crater 42. "(Petersen) was looking behind me, I just dropped underneath and picked it," Dodenhoff said. "We put pressure on him and forced him to make a bad choice." Four plays later, Gray hooked up with Chaunce Gregory on the right sideline at the Crater 15. Gregory shook off David Sills, then tight-roped down the line. He dodged Norum at the 5 to finish off the 29-yard TD reception and make it 14-0 with 6:08 to play in the half. Crater responded with a 12-play, 85-yard march to make it a game. Sills� 31-yard return was nullified by a clip that pushed the Comets back to their 14. But Petersen hooked up with Kenny Strate for a 22-yard gain and a first down at the EP 41. Then on fourth-and-13 from the EP 44, Petersen found Ryan Gipson for a 20-yard gain to the Eagles� 24. Two plays later, Daniel Casey ran the middle for a 19-yard gain and a face-mask penalty advanced the ball to the EP 4. Three plays later, Chris Pettegrew pounded over from 1 yard out and Scott Malone drilled the PAT kick, pulling Crater within 14-7. Crater was on the march late in the third quarter when Dodenhoff again pulled the plug, picking off Petersen�s pass at his own 32 and returning it to the EP 42. Five snaps later, Shelton slithered around the right side following Rocky Johnston and Chaunce Metcalf�s blocks. The big play was a 45-yard screen pass from Gray to Shelton, with Gregory delivering the springing block, going all the way to the Crater 6. "Our loss to South Medford was a big disappointment and we gave up some big plays last week, but our blocking was awesome tonight," Shelton said. "We were working a lot off the strong side, right off (guard) Blake Cam." The PAT kick failed, but with 10:40 to play, the Eagles were in control, 20-7. Two plays later, Horn outjumped a Crater receiver for a pass in front of the Crater bench and the Eagles locked it up four plays later with Bryant Schauffler hammering across the goal line. "Derek doesn�t have the arm strength to do some of the things we were doing with P.J.," Heath said. "But I was pleased with the way he hung in there and kept his poise. He�s going to be a very good quarterback." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.