Montrell Pardue leads Northeast High School Eagles Football Charge over West Creek Coyotes 35-14

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Clarksville, TN – Senior quarterback Montrell Pardue rushed for 4 touchdowns to lead the Northeast Eagles (4-3) in a 35-14 victory over the West Creek Coyotes (2-5).

Pardue finished the game with 14 rushes for 179 yards, one fumble and 4 touchdowns. The only other score by the Eagles was a rushing touchdown by Marquez McCalpin. Senior, Dontavious Fort had 9 rushes for 113 yards.

Northeast High School Football vs West Creek High School. (David Roach-Clarksville Sports Network)

“We fought through a little adversity this week,” Eagles head coach Isaac Shelby said. “I was proud of Montrell and those guys for playing like that. I think tonight in the first quarter we looked like the Northeast of old, moving the ball forward, not going back very much.”

Except for the homecoming festivities, West Creek Coyote fans did not have much to cheer about in the first half. The Eagles shut out the Coyotes and soared to a 21-0 first half lead. Coyote quarterback Jaylen McClanahan felt pressure most of the night and resorted to scrambling often.

When the Coyotes did run the ball, they found limited success. The faster Eagles defense kept Coyote’s running backs from finding the edge and did not leave holes in the middle open long.

McClanahan completed 4 of 7 passes for 57 yards and rushed for 37 yards before being replaced in the second half. The Coyotes leading rusher was Brendon Williams. He rushed 13 times for 66 yards.

The Coyotes were forced to punt the ball 4 times in the first half. They had a scoring opportunity when they set up for a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter. However, the Eagles defense blocked the attempt and the Coyotes turned the ball over on downs.

Pardue kept the Coyotes defense guessing all night, running the option like a magician. After the Coyotes first punt set up the Eagles with 1st and 10 on the Coyote’s 49-yard line, Pardue kept the ball out of the option, tricking most of the Coyote’s defense, and dashed the 49 yards to the end zone for his first score.

His second score was eerily familiar. Fort broke a 46 yard run to set up 1st and 10 on the Coyote 29-yard line. Two plays later, Pardue kept the ball again and spun, juked and sprinted his way 19 yards for another touchdown with 3:19 left in the first quarter.

After the Eagles blocked the Coyotes 26-yard field goal attempt, it took them 5 plays to cover 77 yards for the score. This time McCalpin ran 30 yards for a touchdown after receiving the pitch from Pardue.

Pardue’s third touchdown came after he fumbled on the Eagles second half opening offensive drive. The Coyotes recovered the fumble, but gave the ball back to the Eagles three plays later when they fumbled the ball.

Pardue capped off the ensuing drive with a 15-yard scramble to the end zone to put the Eagles ahead 28-0 with 5:02 left in the 3rd quarter.

Freshman quarterback Jordan Justice took over for the Coyotes in the 3rd quarter. He provided a spark off the bench, igniting the Coyotes passing game.

Justice completed 7 of 16 passes for 115 yards with one interception and 2 touchdowns. His first touchdown was a 21-yard laser to Zeandre Floyd to make the score 28-6 with 2:44 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

On the Coyotes next drive, Justice was intercepted by Eagle senior Fabian Ross. The Eagles took advantage of the turnover to score again. Purdue ran 6 yards for his last touchdown, making the score 35-6 with 9:06 left in the game.

However, Justice bounced back and led the Coyotes offense 71 yards in 6 plays. He found Floyd again, this time with a 23-yard touchdown pass. Afterwards they made the 2-point conversion, closing the gap to 35-14 with 7 minutes remaining in the game.

A fumbled punt by the Eagles gave the Coyotes another chance to score. However, the Eagles defense made a stand on 4th and goal to get the ball back, run out the clock and win the game.