Despite the penalty flags that flew on Friday night in the A.L. Johnson Eagles battle against the R.C. Hatch Bobcats, the Eagles pulled out a 22-18 win.

The game began with very high energy on both sides of the ball as it was apparent that the teams were excited to kick off the start of the football season.

The Eagles got off to a rocky start in the first half with penalty calls for holding and clipping.

“I didn’t like the penalties we took throughout the first half, but the second half the boys came back and played with tremendous heart,” Coach Mose Jones for the Eagles said.

In the last three minutes of the first half, two consecutive penalty flags called back two touchdown runs by senior Castillo Huggins and senior Demarcus Woods each for over 60 yards.

For the Eagles, their biggest threat was the Bobcats running back Robert Hosea, who rushed 11 yards for the Bobcats first touchdown with a minute and 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

It was only after a 69-yard run by the Eagles senior Huggins and them successfully completing a 2-point conversion that the Eagles put points on the board.

The Bobcats rushed for another touchdown in the first half, which left the score at 12-8 going into the half.

At the beginning of the second half, the Eagles gained momentum after an interception by Demarcus Woods. On third down of the drive resulting from the interception, junior Lawrence Burrell broke three tackles as he ran the ball down the sidelines for a score. The Eagles failed to convert the two-point conversion to finish the drive.

“A win is a win, we are 1-0 starting off our season, I am very proud of my team,” Jones said.

The final score for the Eagles was after a 65-yard run by Woods along the sidelines and across midfield to make the score 22-18 in favor of the Eagles.

“Going into next week we just have to focus on the penalties and continue to play with heart,” Jones said.