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You can get complete recaps of each game this year by clicking on the "Schedule" link. Simply click on the game you want to read about, once you're there!
Eagles Lose Tough One to Vikings, 20-6
October 29, 2005---The Eagles, despite this loss, went out in style! The Vikings came into this game having already secured a Super Bowl berth for the 2005 season, but seemed to forget that they had one more game to play! The final score was by NO means an indicator of how this game went.
The Eagles won the toss, and elected to kick off. As has usually happened to us this year, the Vikings scored on their first possession, and gained a 2-point conversion for an 8-0 advantage. Normally this year, the Eagles would have folded...but not today! The Eagles' offense immediately went to work with a long 50-yard drive mixed in with a beautiful 30-yard pass completion from Timarcus Simpson to Ton'ye Bandini. Once the Vikings had to respect the pass, it opened up our running game, with Timarcus Simpson and Deyonte Lyons chopping out consistent 5-yard gains. The Eagles broke the Vikings defense on a right end around from the 10-yard line, with Gershom Ejoni sprinting into the end zone for his first career touchdown.
Both teams got defensive after the initial outburst, forcing punts and turnovers from each other. The score at halftime was a mere 8-6, Vikings.
The Eagles got the ball first in the second half, but failed to gain any momentum. The Vikings struggled as well, but finally managed to get in the endzone on a broken play, making the score 14-6. The 4th quarter continued to be a defensive struggle, and the Vikings scored on the very last play of the game, with no time left on the clock, for the final score of 20-6. The game was basically either team's to win, up until that last play.
The Eagle defense was absolutely incredible today! Timarcus Simpson led the charge by SOUNDLY hitting some Vikings in his last game as a Mitey Mite, and Samuel McNair did an awesome job from the defensive noseguard position, consistently getting into the Viking backfield and disrupting many of their plays before they could ever get started. The Vikings' offensive coach quickly realized that he needed to stop running plays toward Timarcus, and kept running opposite field. That made it easier for the rest of the defense to key in on the direction of the play. The defense ended up recording 5 sacks on the day, along with many stops for losses.
The Vikings were definitely "off" in this game...a credit to the much-improved Eagle defense. I know for a fact that they were not expecting this kind of a game from us, and they were relieved to get out with a "W". When I shook hands with their coaches, they paid us some very nice compliments on our improvement. We wish them luck in the Super Bowl!
That's it for 2005! I'd like to thank everyone for their support this year! The Eagles made a go of it, but with so many first-year players, we knew it would be tough. But, we hung in there in EVERY game, and were never really out of any of them. If not for the awful call during the Rams game, this team could easily have ended up with a 2-2 conference record. I'm proud of this team, and look forward to our team in 2006, now that many of the returnees have experience, and our skill players will be returning with a mission!
--Coach Neal Giordano
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