The Sayre Eagle football team opened the 2023 season by traveling to Cordell where they captured a 48 - 0 win over the Blue Devils last Friday evening. The Eagle starters scored 42 points in the first half before turning over the second half duties to the Eagle reserves. Eleven Eagles divided their 36 rushing attempts with Hunter Hanrahan leading in yards gained with 46 yards on 5 carries followed closely by Ayden Hendershot with 42 yards on 5 carries and Coy Capehart with36 yards on 2 carries. The Eagle defense was smothering as they held the Blue Devils to only 2 first downs and a total of 32 yards in the game. Leading the defense in tackles was Capehart with 8 and Zeke Curtis with 7 stops.
The game began when Sayre kicked off to Cordell in the 8 PM contest. Cordell was forced to give up the football after 3 plays netted only 5 yards. The punt by Dayton Bartlett was31 yards to the Sayre 44. From that point the Eagles covered the distance to the Devil end zone while overcoming 4 penalties in the process. Devin Moser scored the TD on a 13 yard run. The PAT failed and the score read 6-0 with 6:45 left in the first quarter. Following the ensuing kickoff by Hendershot, Cordell began on offense at their own 24. Four plays produced only 9 yards before Sayre took over on offense at the Devil 33. A 10 yard penalty and 3 straight uncompleted passes caused Jaden Mosser to punt 37 yards to the Cordell 5 yard line. In the first 3 plays the Eagle defense had pushed the Blue Devils back to their own two yard line where they punted 35 yards out to their own 45. Jaden Mosser picked up the punt at the 45 and returned it 17 yards to the Cordell 28. Sayre used only 3 plays to hit paydirt again with Hendershot coving the final 9 yards. D. Moser ran across the PAT to give Sayre a 14 - 0 lead with 0:23 left in the first quarter.
Bartlett returned the ensuing kickoff 13 yards from the Cordell 15 to the 28. On second down the ball was fumbled and was picked up by Capehart and returned 25 yards to the Devil 5 yard line. On first down Hanrahan scored the 5 yard TD and after Moser ran across the PAT the Eagles now had a 22-0 lead early in the second quarter. After the ensuing kickoff Cordell began their next possession from their own 17. The Sayre Iron clad defense pushed the Devils back 6 yards to their own 11 where they were forced to punt. The punt carried 35 yards to the Cordell 46 yard line where Sayre took possession. Sayre wasted no time in putting ther fourth TD on the scoreboard as they covered the 46 yards in 4 plays. Hanrahan scored his second TD of the evening on a 6 yard run. Moser ran across the PAT to put Sayre up 30 - 0 with 8:44 left in the first half.
Once again the stone wall Eagle defense prevented a Cordell first down. The kickoff was to the Devil 18 where Richard Croslin scooped up and returned the ball 15 yards to the Devil 33 yard line. After three plays the ball at the Cordell 30 where on fourth down Bartlett punted 27 yards to the Eagle 43. From there Sayre went to the airways with QB Ryan Johnston completing two passes to get the Eagles on the board again. The first was a 34 yarder to Hanrahan and the second a TD pass of 23 yards to Zeke Curtis. The PAT pass attempt failed but the score was upped to 36 - 0 with 5:39 left in the first half. The ensuing kickoff and return put the Blue Devils at their own 40 to start their next possession. With tackles made by Brock Helton, Brayden Mosburg and Ryan Beck, Cordell had lost 3 yards in 3 plays. They then punted from their own 37. The punt by Bartlett was a 52 yarder to the Sayre eleven yard line where J. Mosser picked up the ball and made a dazzling 38 yard return out to the Eagle 49.
The Eagles needed only 3 plays to flow through the porous Devil defense and reach the end zone. Curtis gained 22 yards on two carries before Capehart scored the TD on a determined 29 yard run. A pass for the PAT failed and the Eagles led at halftime 42 to 0.
Sayre received the second half kickoff and picked up where they left off at halftime by marching 50 yards in six plays. Ethan Garrison ran the last 4 yards to the Cordell end zone A run attempt for the PAT failed giving the final score to read 48 - 0. The clock was put on no stop in the second half and time ran out quickly before any further scoring could be made. The Eagles will have this Friday off but will travel to Walters for their next contest the following Friday. Walters defeated Konawa last Friday 49 to 14. They defeated the Eagles last year by the score of 28 to 20. Coaches for Sayre this year are returning head coach Craig Hixon and returning assistants Patton Pugh, Kyle Merrick and Hunter Hines. Dakin Harris was added as a new assistant coach.
