THE EAGLES FLEW, ALL RIGHT | Tatum gets back in the win column with a 45-10 victory at Sabine

LIBERTY CITY – Both Tatum and Sabine came into Friday night’s District 8-3A, Division I opener not just wanting, needing a district win, but a win, period.

The Cardinals are winless this season, and Tatum hadn’t won since week two.

But in a battle between a pair of programs in the ETBlitz.com coverage area, it was Tatum’s will that won out, a 45-10 Eagles victory.

Tatum is 2-3 on the season, now, and 1-0 in district play. Coach Whitney Keeling and the boys will host Liberty-Eylau next Friday at 7 p.m.

Sabine, though, drops to 0-5 on the season, and 0-1 in district. The Cardinals, coached by Cody Gilbert, will hit the short road to Gladewater to meet coach Jermaine Lewis’ Bears, who upset state-ranked Jefferson on Friday night by a single point.

It was a clear cool night at James Bamberg Stadium Friday for Sabine-Tatum, and the Eagles – on the game’s first possession – took the ball at their 41. Sabine’s defense dropped running back Brandon Howard for a 4-yard loss. That would be the only loss he would see in the game.  The Eagles found the end zone in two plays as Ty Moore rumbled 40 yards before he was stopped, then Howard went the final15 for the score. An attempted two-point conversion failed, leaving the Eagles up 6-0.

On Sabine’s first drive, on third-and-18, quarterback Griffin DeHoyos found Lincoln Royce for a 28-yard first down. Damin Richardson added a 9-yard run, followed by an 11-yarder.

DeHoyos completed two short passes to Royce and Landry Laird to set up a first-and-goal, and then  found a wide-open Royce over the middle for the touchdown. Victor Avalos added the extra point and a 7-6 Sabine lead.

This didn’t hold as on the second play from scrimmage on the next Tatum possession, Howard broke from a scrum of players and sprinted 71 yards for a touchdown.  Kody Hines added the extra point to retake the lead the Eagles would not relinquish (13-6).

After a good kickoff return by Terry Vanden, the Cardinals had a short field to work with. The quarter ended with a Sabine completion, but a strip-fumble, recovered by the Eagles, and then fumbled again and recovered by the Cardinals.          

With a new set of downs, the Cardinals continued to move downfield using the short pass, but the drive stalled as the fourth-down pass play fell incomplete.

Tatum went back to the ground game, with Howard gaining 18 yards, followed by Dameon Pippens adding 26. Moore had back-to-back runs of 9 and 11 yards, setting up the Eagles in the red zone.

Alijah Williams then ran for 14 yards, setting up quarterback Grant Adcock for the 1-yard plunge and touchdown.  After the missed two-point conversion, the Eagles had increased their lead to 19-7.

The Eagles’ defense then forced a three-and-out on the Cardinals.  Tatum took over near midfield and on the third play, Howard took a reverse and went for 50 yards and a score. The extra point was blocked, but the lead had grown to 25-7. 

Tatum would get one more before halftime, after a miscue on a punt that gave Tatum the ball at Sabine’s 1-yard-line. Moore plowed over the line for the score, and even after another missed conversion, Tatum went to the locker room with a 31-7 lead.

There would only be three scores in the second half. Howard scored on a 20-yard run in the third quarter, with Hines adding the extra point (38-7).

Tatum’s defense forced another Sabine punt, but were pinned back at their 6  following the kick. On the first play of the drive, the Cardinals’ defense forced a fumble and Sabine’s Keeghan Cominsky came up with the ball for the Cardinals at the 7.  Three straight incomplete passes set up a field goal attempt.  Victor Avalos booted a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to 38-10 to end the third quarter.

There was one final touchdown of the game: a 12-yard run by Williams, then the extra point by Hines, for the game’s final score (45-10).

Tatum’s Dre Martinez had a late interception.

DeHoyos had 93 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. Royce was the recipient of 55 of those yards and the score and Keifer Serrano had 19. Richardson was able to squeeze out 23 yards on the ground.

For the Eagles, Howard led them with 168 yards rushing and four scores.  Williams and George each had 46 and Moore had 69.