Leyton/Banner WarCats Fall to Brady Eagles 77-6

The Leyton/Banner County WarCats lost to the Brady Eagles 77-to-6 in 8-Man Football action Friday night in Dalton to drop the WarCats to 0-and-3 early in the season.

Brady received the opening kickoff, and the Eagle's junior running back Logan Simmons caught the ball and ran straight up the middle of the kickoff coverage, cut to the left, then sprinted down the sideline 70 yards for a touchdown to open up a quick 7-to-0 lead on the WarCats. Brady then surprised the Leyton/Banner County squad with an onside kick that was hit hard into the receiving team, bounced free, then was recovered by the Brady team. After the WarCats were able to stuff two rushing attempts by the Eagles, on third down and seven senior quarterback T.J. Roe connected for the first of his four touchdown passes on the day, and the Eagles were quickly up 14-to-0.

After a touchback, Leyton took over but sophomore quarterback Scout Gamble could not get the offense on track, and the WarCats punted the ball back to the Eagles on fourth down. Brady then started to drive, but the WarCats caught a break on a Brady holding call that looked to stall their drive. The Eagles converted on a long third down to keep their drive going, and a few plays later, Roe was able to break free and run for 30 yards and a touchdown, increasing the Brady lead to 21-to-0. The WarCats again started to drive, but had difficulty gaining yards. Their drive was extended by a Brady penalty that gave the WarCats some yardage and a fresh set of downs. Gamble was then able to hang in the pocket long enough to find sophomore Mason Reimers streaking down the left sideline, and connected on a bomb for 53 yards and a touchdown. The point-after kick was missed, but the WarCats and the home crowd were fired up with the home team cutting the lead down to 21-to-6.

Brady started in their own territory, and the WarCats were able to hold their runs to small gains, and forced an incompletion for a three-and-out. But Brady senior Shane Merrill boomed a 47 yard punt that landed at the WarCats one yard line, and the Leyton squad had to start their drive in the shadow of their own goal post. Leyton was able to gain some yards, but a fumble set them back inside the five and they were forced to punt. Brady gained considerable field position, and started their next drive on the WarCats 32 yard line. After a first down run for 10 yards, Roe connected again on a short pass that went all the way for another touchdown, and with the score at 28-to-6 with three minutes left in the first quarter, the rout was on.

Brady finished the half up 55-to-6, and the Eagles tacked on another 22 points in the second half for the 77-to-6 victory. Gamble was able to throw the ball, completing 19 of 35 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, but two interceptions and the WarCats inability to sustain drives were too much to overcome against Brady. Sophomore running back Ethan Eckhardt was limited to just 12 yards on 12 carries, with the WarCats having to throw early and often in their attempt to come back in the game. Sophomore Brayden Haley had a solid performance on defense, disrupting the Eagle's running game with nine total tackles in the game. The Leyton/Banner County team next faces Medicine Valley in Paxton on Thursday at 7 p.m.