Snow Hill Eagles Soar Over Chincoteague Ponies

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Story and Photo by Matthew Yoder

Snow Hill displayed little resemblance to a team that was winless last season in the opening game defeat of Chincoteague Monday night.

The Eagles scored 36 points all of last season, but put that same number of points on the board in the first half en route to a 36-6 victory against the Ponies.

The game started with an encouraging sight for Pony fans as Dakota Bowden joined his teammates midfield for the coin toss. He walked off the field in crutches urging his team passionately. Bowden broke his leg in the second half of Chincoteague’s game vs. Windsor a week ago.

“Y’all better get this, hit somebody,” said Bowden.

Chincoteague did play physical but Snow Hill responded early with indefensible speed and athleticism. Ira Baine and Darius Dale ran the ball expertly on the Eagles’ first drive, leading to a touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Chris Waters. Dale sat alone in the endzone to receive a pass on the rollout from Waters to complete the 2-point conversion and quickly the score was 8-0.

The Eagles were off and running and never looked back. TJ Johnson intercepted a pass on third and long from Giovanni Rosanova III and returned it to the red zone of Chincoteague. On the ensuing play, Davion Ayres cut through the Ponies defense for a 12-yard touchdown run. On the 2-point conversion attempt Chincoteague contained Baine up the middle, but he used his speed to swing to the right putting Snow Hill up 16-0. Chincoteague’s second possession ended in a three and out with Dale and Bryce Purnell sneaking through the line to force an intentional grounding on Rosanova.

A great punt by Rosanova and then teamwork on a sack from Ayden Leonard and Kyle Willis put Snow Hill in fourth and 21. They inserted Skyler Blank, a kid with a big arm at quarterback, and went for it. He dropped back and found a wide open Baine for a long touchdown pass. Lucas Turner made a strong effort to deflect the pass on the 2-point conversion attempt but the Ponies found themselves in a 22-0 hole at the end of the first quarter.

Chincoteague coach Tony Nock sensed that Snow Hill was going to enter the game hungry for a win, eager to brush aside last year’s results.

“They wanted it a little more,” Nock said.

Penalties on the offense and good tackling by Leonard pinned Snow Hill on occasion but time and again they converted on long yardage situations.

Baine broke out a long run on the Eagles’ fourth possession. A touchdown from him was saved only by a determined effort by Wes Britton to track him down near the goal line. Dale ran the ball in from there and Snow Hill upped their lead to 30-0.

Dale was unstoppable on defense and offense all night. He thought last season probably gave Chincoteague reason to doubt the ability of his team.

An accomplished student-athlete, Dale talked chiefly of this year’s squad.

“We came in with the mentality to bring it all four quarters,” said Dale.

He credited offseason work in the gym and team building as keys to Snow Hill’s success moving forward.

“Conditioning is the key,” said Dale. “We gotta work and build together more as a family.”

His sentiment was shared by an infectiously smiling head coach Deitrick Downing.

“We have leaders, we’re binding, we want to be a family,” said Downing, a 1988 graduate of Arcadia High School.

Downing played on Arcadia’s 1987 District Championship team and believes he and his coaching staff are beginning to foster a winning mentality to the Eagles play.

“This was our first opening game victory since 2010,” Downing said, and he has his eyes set on more this season.

Chincoteague did not let up in the second half. They competed until the end. Ayden Leonard intercepted a Snow Hill pass and dragged defenders on the return into Eagle territory. A wellplaced pass from Rosanova to Leonard in the corner of the end zone led to Chincoteague’s only score of the night.

Nock was encouraged by his team’s effort coming out of halftime.

“The kids played with a lot of pride in the second half,” Nock said. “We played some sloppy ball but we are going to regroup.”

Chincoteague is back in action tonight at 7 p.m. for a matchup with Middlesex in Saluda, Va.

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