The Windham Bombers’ football team has developed a love for the explosive plays. The Bombers were fueled by several big plays, downing Northern 8 Conference rival Sebring McKinley 58-16 last Friday evening at Ed Liddle Field.
“We knew it was a must win not only for morale purposes but for playoff seeding down the road,” said Coach Jake Eye. “The boys came out and played well, they were aggressive, the intensity was there and I felt like we played four solid quarters of football.”
The Bombers (3-3, 2-3) improved their record to .500 and have thrust themselves into the playoff conversation for the Northern 8 Conference postseason, as the top four teams at the end of the season will compete in a four-team bracket for the championship. The top two seeds belong to St. Mary Central Catholic and St. Joseph Central Catholic, with Danbury sitting in third place but the fourth seed is still within reach.
On Friday, Windham needed only two plays from the line of scrimmage to take the lead as junior tailback/linebacker Alex Eye scored on a 50-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Bryan Smithberger, pushing the Bombers ahead 8-0 after successfully executing the two-point conversion.
The Trojans countered with on a one-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback/defensive back Zach Todd, evening the score at 8-8 but Windham seized control by continuing to hit on explosive plays while speeding up the 6-foot Todd’s motion by consistently generating interior pressure from the defensive line.
“We started out on a four-man front and they started throwing the ball which caught us off guard a little bit, so we made some in-game adjustments going to a three-man front,” added the sixth-year coach. “We went to a three-three, and I think that helped our secondary out, but our physicality was there all night long. We were the more physical team by far.”
The Bombers’ offense continued to be efficient, only running 18 plays in the first half, but still took a 44-16 lead into the half.
The 6-foot Alex was unstoppable, rushing for 197 yards and three touchdowns to pace Windham.
Alex scored his three touchdowns in the first half on 61-yard, 46-yard and 20-yard touchdown runs.
“It means a lot,” Alex noted. “I love playing and I love playing for my grandfather who is no longer here with me, it means a lot to play for him.”
Alex finished the game tallying four touchdowns and 264 rushing yards on just nine carries and collected 50 receiving yards and a touchdown reception on his big night.
Coach Eye acknowledged that the Trojans’ defense could not bring Alex down.
“Alex is a special player,” Coach Eye said. “He is big and strong. He is a country boy, he is a farmer, he is a load, I am proud of him. I know he works hard and he is a good teammate.”
For Alex, is a was a nice return to game action having dealt with injuries over the past two weeks, being limited in the Bombers’ week four contest against Holgate and idle against Windham’s duel against Northern 8 Conference rival St. Mary Central Catholic.
According to Coach Eye, losing any player due to injury is a significant loss for a small program such as Windham’s but not having Alex available weighed heavily on the Bombers in their week five loss.
“When you take a key guy away from a small team, that is a big blow,” he said.
Although the Bombers’ offense scored on every drive in the first half, the Trojans stayed within striking distance, only trailing 30-16 at one point but after Windham increased its lead to 38-16 on Alex’s third touchdown of the half, and the Bombers gained an extra possession by successfully recovering an onside kick near the end of the first half.
Coach Eye said that it was worth the risk to earn another possession before the half, especially since the Bombers would receive the kickoff at the beginning of the second half.
Windham needed only four plays to score, as the 5-foot-10 Smithberger threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to junior wideout/defensive back Keegan Kiser, stretching the lead to 44-16.
After the Bombers triggered the running clock at the start of the second half on a 65-yard touchdown run by Alex, pushing the lead to 50-16, junior tailback/defensive back Xavier Bruton sealed the victory by tipping a deep pass from Todd to himself in coverage, returning it to Sebring’s 24.
“I really wanted that pick, and I was going to get it,” said the 5-foot-10 junior. “It wasn’t to get tipped away; it was for me to go get it.”
The Bombers will stay home and host Northern 8 Conference foe St. Joseph Catholic at Ed Liddle Field on Friday at 7 p.m.
