Dragons run past Skyhawks, grab Southeast’s No. 3 seed

It was senior night at Del Sol on Thursday, and fittingly, the Dragons’ senior tandem of running back Derek Eamon and fullback John Kirschbaum led the way.

Eamon racked up 232 yards and three scores behind the blocks of Kirschbaum, who added 130 yards rushing, as Del Sol ran past Silverado, 28-21.

With the win, the Dragons (8-2, 5-1) head into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed from the Southeast League. They will take on Northeast No. 2 seed Rancho in the first round of the playoffs Nov. 7.

Eamon, who said he had never rushed for three touchdowns in a game before, scored in each of the first three quarters Thursday, on runs of 1 yard, 2 yards and 45 yards.

“Nothing has changed from my game plan the whole season,” Eamon said. “Run right at them, right behind the fullback, full speed ahead.”

Kirschbaum agreed that the Dragons did nothing out of the ordinary on the way to rolling up 407 rushing yards.

“All week we just practice on working hard, running downhill, following our blocks and having good technique,” Kirschbaum said. “So tonight it paid off.”

Del Sol had a number of big plays going to the left side — away from Skyhawks defensive end Keenan Graham, a Division I prospect.

“We knew they were going to come from the outside, especially with that good defensive end they have,” Eamon said. “The left side is our strong side, especially when we are pulling guards. We hit that all night. Why stop if it’s hurting them?”

Eamon’s 45-yard touchdown run with 3:25 left in the third quarter put the Dragons up 21-7 and appeared to be a back breaker for Silverado, which had been outgained 131-4 in the quarter.

But the Skyhawks (4-5, 1-5), despite being held to 191 yards overall, managed to stay close thanks to big plays.

Keenan Graham’s 79-yard kickoff return set up Silverado’s first score, Trenton Timpton’s 1-yard run. Dariouse Gravely’s 49-yard run on the last play of the third quarter led to Akeem Saint Victor’s 13-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-14 with 10:53 left in the fourth quarter.

But the Dragons answered on the ensuing drive, marching 75 yards in eight plays to take a 28-14 lead on Ernest Hall’s 2-yard run.

Silverado scored a touchdown with 25 seconds left for the final margin.

Eamon said the Dragons showed they are ready for the playoffs.

“I don’t want to say it was a tuneup game, because Silverado is no joke, but it was good to show what we are made of going into the playoffs,” Eamon said.

Kirschbaum agreed.

“I’m really excited for what we did tonight, and I’m really excited about the playoff game to come,” he said. “We will be ready.”