Vandals survive Serpents; earn top playoff seed

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The Eureka County High School football team completed its league schedule a perfect 8-0 with a 34-26 victory at home over Mineral County on Thursday, Oct. 29. With the win, the Vandals secured the Northern 1A’s top seed and homefield advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

It didn’t look good for the Vandals early in the game, as a fumble on their first drive allowed Mineral County to take a 6-0 lead. More errors on their second drive led to a punt, and a penalty kept the Vandals out of the end zone on drive three. The defense came up big after a turnover on downs, though, getting ECHS on the board with a safety.

“That gave us some spark, and we were able to get a really good kick return from Dean Benson into the red zone. Hank Mentaberry eventually punched it in for us to go up 8-6. We were able to get another score on the next drive to go up 14-6 at halftime,” said Eureka head coach Fred Minoletti.

The Vandals found their game in the third quarter, scoring twice to make it 28-6. MCHS answered with a 27-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third to take back the momentum. More mistakes by Eureka in the fourth allowed the Serpents to slither back into the game. A fumble turned into points to make it 28-18. Benson scored again to extend the lead to 34-18, but a MCHS flea flicker for a 45-yard touchdown made it a one-score game.

“Again, we were unable to run out the clock and gave them a last chance with about 1:30 on the clock. They completed a few passes, but Dean Benson intercepted a long pass with about 30 seconds left to close the game,” Minoletti said. “We ran the ball well—over 300 yards—and kept time of possession in our favor, but two bad turnovers and mistakes kept us from running the clock out.”

The Serpents amassed over 300 yards passing, albeit with extra possessions and a trick play. The Vandals hope to clean it up in case they run into Mineral County again in the state semifinals. First, Eureka must get by Wells on Friday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. in Eureka. The Vandals shutout the Leopards 42-0 on Sept. 24. 

“[W]e need to definitely be locked in on both sides of the ball if we don’t want to be out early,” Minoletti commented.