El Dorado head coach Chris Hill admitted he was more relieved than celebratory at the end of the Wildcats’ 35-34 win over Camden Fairview Friday at Memorial Stadium.
El Dorado nearly squandered a 14-point advantage in a span of about four-and-a-half minutes. The Cardinals got the ball back with 1:15 left and an opportunity to drive for the game-winning field goal.
The drive ended when Fairview was flagged for an illegal forward pass on fourth down.
“They’re so dangerous on offense. They have big play potential. You hold your breath every time they snap it,” Hill said. “After the last penalty and we took the ball back over and got into the victory formation, which is the best play in football, it was just a big sigh of relief. That was the main emotion.”
There were many things to celebrate in the Wildcats’ victory. But nearly kicking away a 35-21 lead in the final four minutes left a bitter taste.
“We’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got a two-score lead. We give up a long touchdown pass. We line up wrong on our hands team,” said Hill. “Coach Townsend is as thorough as anybody in the world on special teams. We go out and we line up wrong. We lined up like we’ve never lined up in our life. That was frustrating and then they recovered the kickoff.
“The biggest frustrating part was when we got the ball back and all we need is one first down. We go backwards 15 yards. We get a motion penalty and two bad plays. That was very frustrating from an offensive standpoint. All we had to do was get one first down and then take knees. It was relief but a little bit of frustration also.”
In the end, the difference between the two teams was Fairview’s missed final extra point, which sailed into the line and was blocked.
As for the positives, El Dorado’s offense clicked. Jeremy Samuel rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns. Cannon Jacobs completed 10-of-17 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a 24-yard touchdown.
“We were able to put points on the board. I haven’t been able to watch the film yet. I thought Jeremy Samuel did an outstanding job of getting positive yards,” said Hill. “You’ve got to be able to lower your pads and get three or four yards. Big plays will happen but you have to consistently get three or four yards. I thought he did a great job of running the football, protecting the football, being tough with the ball.
“No turnovers tonight, this early in the season to have that is big. We were able to throw the ball. We missed a couple deep balls but I thought we did a good job of moving the ball around and taking what they gave us. We took our shots down the field. We came into the season with the expectations of throwing the ball more down the field, taking some shots. We were able to connect on a couple of those.”
The Wildcats have now won two in a row over the Cardinals, including a 21-20 victory in Camden a year ago.
“I’m sure it was a fun game to watch,” said Hill. “We’re just glad to keep the trophy at our place for a year. We’re going to enjoy this win for sure.”
El Dorado (1-1) will turn its attention to its first road game next week, at Texarkana. The Razorbacks, coached by former Wildcat defensive coordinator Trey Outlaw, are 0-2 coming off a 51-21 loss to Morrilton.