Vandals Improve to 4-1 After Winning Third Straight

Eureka won its third consecutive game last week topping the visiting Wells Leopards 56-30.

Sophomore Brandon Lee rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns pacing the Vandals to a 36-22 halftime lead. It was his second 200 plus game of the season. He had 267 yards against Whittell Sept. 7.

Coach Fred Minoletti said, “The team blocked pretty well for him and he hits the holes quickly and does a really good job keeping his legs driving.”

The other running backs for Eureka had a fine outing also. Garret Todd rushed for 54 yards, Wyatt Anderson 49 yards on 12 carries, and Gage Hayward for 51 yards on 10 carries.

“We passed quite a bit more this game to open it up a little bit,” Minoletti said, “and that helped raise our total yardage count [a season high 576 yards]. We run the ball pretty well, but teams are starting to stack the box against the run, so we turn to the pass and we’re getting better on our timing on play-action and pass patterns.” Anderson was 10-of-14 passing for 182 yards and three touchdowns.

Clayton Shota and Chris Drayton both had two touchdown pass receptions.

On defense, Eureka limited Wells running backs Jared Martinez and Sergio Soriano to only 38 and 34 yards respectively.

Todd had 13 tackles, assisting on nine of those. He was backed up by Drayton with 11 assists. Tristan Bircham and Chase Green were credited with nine assists each.

Drayton and Shota both had pass interceptions.

The teams battled each other in the first half, with Eureka holding a two touchdown lead, but in the third quarter the Vandals stormed the field like sacking a village and scored three times.

Wells quarterback Zane Rodriquez was only 9-for-27, 188 yards, including a 78-yard bomb, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was also the leader rusher for the Leopards with 58 yards on seven carries.

It was the second straight win for Eureka over Wells with the series now tied at seven wins each since 2005.

This week the Vandals play host to the Carlin Railroaders. Both teams are 4-1 on the season.

Carlin’s Eddie Gomez comes into the game with a 194 yards per game average. Brandon Lee counters with 130 yards per game.

At quarterback, Wyatt Anderson is 20-for-35 passing, 346 yards and six touchdowns.

Meantime, Carlin sophomore quarterback Toby Pinnel is 21-of-40, 300 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s going to be a good physical game,” Minoletti said. “They do a lot of the same things we do in running the ball, going to be a lot of smash mouth football. It’ll be the exact opposite of what we have faced the last couple of games. We’ll just have to be tougher.”

And the game might be close on the scoreboard, too, because on paper, the Railroaders are averaging 37.2 points per game and allowing 28.8. Eureka is averaging 42.2 points per game, while giving up 21.6.

The Vandals have won the last four meetings.