The Eagles narrowly escaped La Grange in a 14-8 thriller in Waco on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016. The game was their second of the season, following a victory over Lovejoy on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016.

The game was a stalemate well into the third quarter until Don Williams (7) brought the ball into the end zone with a 40 yard touchdown run to make the score 6-0. Dylan Sadler (4) converted the PAT to make the score 7-0. The game remained at 7-0 until the 1:51 mark of the 4th quarter. After a long drive by La Grange, the Leopard’s punched the ball into the end zone from the two yard line. The Leopards ran a reverse pass to score a two-point conversion to put them up 8-7.

A short kick and a good return by Slater Wright (20) gave the Eagle’s offense a good field position and plenty of time to score. However, the Eagles used up very little time before Hayden Clearman (12) scampered his way  into the end zone. Dylan Sadler kicked an extra point to make the score 14-8 with 1:30 left in the fourth . The La Grange offense started on their own 25 yard line, and by using a series of short passes, they drove to the inside of the Argyle 20 yard line with 9 seconds left in the game. The Leopard’s quarterback threw two pass attempts into the end zone only to be denied.

While the game was close and some mistakes were made, this game was the debut of sophomore quarterback Hayden Clearman (12).

“The offensive line did a great job blocking,” Clearman said. “I saw a hole and just took off and was able to get into the end zone.”

However, the offense was not the only part of the team that was able to play a role in the victory. The game was also a huge win for the Eagle defense.

“We played really well and were able to come up with some huge stops to give the offense a chance to win the game,” Kaden Roberts (35) said.

The next game for Argyle is against the Celina Bobcats at Eagle Stadium. Celina (1-1) suffered a tough loss to Princeton in their first game of the year and survived a second half comeback against Argyle Liberty Christian to win their second game of the year. The Eagles hope to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss to Celina.