Missed tackles hurt Enochs

ATWATER — Enochs High came within two missed tackles of posting the most important non-league victory in its three-year history of playing varsity football.

Instead, the Eagles, who held a one-point lead with less than five minutes remaining, fell victim to two touchdown runs by Buhach Colony's Corey Chapman in the final 4:04 and fell 33-20 to the Thunder at Falcon Stadium.

The missed tackles both came on the same play and probably cost Enochs a victory in its season opener.

Leading 20-19 after scoring twice in the this quarter, Enochs had Buhach (2-0) facing a fourth-and-13 at the Enochs 32 with about 4:30 left.

Thunder quarterback Ben Watkins took a snap out of the shotgun, but settled for a pass in the left left to junior running back Dallon Muse. The Eagles, needing only a tackle to gain possession with a shot at running out the clock, had Muse trapped for little or no gain.

But Muse slipped one tackle with a straight-arm then juked his way out of a second arm tackle before surging forward for a 14-yard gain to the Enoch 18, just enough to move the chains.

On the very next play, Chapman broke over the right side for an 18-yard score to give Buhach the lead. He would strike again.

Enonch took the ensuing kickoff and moved deep into Buhach territory, gaining a first down at the 14 with 2:30 remaining. But on a third down, quarterback Christian Kahler was intercepted by Jordy Kaiser at the 6 to stop the drive with exactly two minutes left.

Two plays later, Chapman again slashed over the right side, this time going 91 yards for the clinching score. Chapman finished with 143 yards in 13 carries, while teammate Jarrell Davis needed 13 carries to achieve the same yardage total as the Thunder amassed 305 of their 363 yards on the ground.

Enochs had its own ground game going behind J.T. Boles, who gained 113 yards on 15 carries. Boles grabbed a pass from Kahler for a 23-yard score with 7:45 left in the third quarter as Enochs began to rally from a 19-8 halftime deficit.

When Donnavan Johnson slashed over from the 6 with 3:19 left in the quarter, the Eagles had their first lead of the game at 20-19.

After gaining the lead, Enochs again stopped a Buhach possession and had a chance to build on their margin. But on the final play of the third quarter Boles was tackled high and got his left ankle caught underneath a teammate. He limped off and did not return in the fourth quarter, taking much of the Eagles' ground attack with him.

Davis scored on runs of 48 and 17 yards in the first half to help the Thunder move out to a 19-8 halftime lead. A 30-yard pass from Watkins to Brandon Kelly accounted for Buhach's third touchdown, while Enochs got on the board on a 14-yard burst by Herbert Whitehurst on a sweep of the left side.

Bee staff writer Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeek@modbee.com or 578-2300.