Vandals Drop Wells in Must-Win Game

In sports there are “must win games” for teams and sometimes that phrase gets thrown around loosely. For Eureka’s playoff chances, their game this past Friday night in Wells was undoubtedly one of those must win games, and they got the job done with a 62-36 win.

Wells beat Eureka by two touchdowns in Eureka earlier this year in Eureka. The first meeting was a very close game and was decided by few key plays at the end. The Vandals hoped to make the rematch have a different ending to it.

Led by Head Coach Fred Minoletti along with his assistant and brother Giovanni Minoletti, Eureka came out fired up and with something to prove. The Vandals jumped all over the Leopards right out of the gate. Eureka scored at will in the first quarter as they opened up a 24-8 lead at the end of the period.

The Vandals added to their lead in the second quarter. Eureka added 18 more points while Wells could only muster 8 second quarter points. Eureka held a handsome lead with the halftime score at 42-16.

With Eureka gaining a sizable lead heading into the second half, Wells seemed overwhelmed with the task of a comeback. Both Eureka and Wells scored two touchdowns each in the 3rd quarter keeping the lead the same. Both teams then scored one touchdown each in the final quarter to never put the game in doubt. Eureka avenged there earlier league loss to Wells by the final score of 62-36, this time in favor of Eureka.

Eureka turned in one of the best performances, wire to wire, as they have all season thus far. Most importantly, the win put Eureka in the playoff mix. Eureka will need to take care of business with their second matchup against McDermitt, a team in which Eureka easily won in the first contest at home during homecoming week. If they can do that, it will set up a big rematch between Carlin and Eureka. The rematch could determine playoff seeds between the two teams, but a lot has to play out between then and now to see what exactly might happen.

Eureka will come off a big win this past weekend, but will have little time to celebrate as league leader Carlin is coming to town this Friday night. The Vandals will look for a little revenge after the previous game between the two squads. The earlier meeting between the Vandals and Railroaders seemed all but won for Eureka. A questionable spot of the ball on fourth down late in the game gave the Railroaders a first down to extend their drive. The drive ended with a Carlin touchdown with 15 seconds remaining which turned out to be the game winner.