Eastland blows by Austin

Updated: October 29, 2011 10:38PM

Austin lost the war, but it gained something not easily measured in the process.

Eastland jumped on the Tigers 30-0 in the first half. Austin fought back and showed pride and toughness in dropping the 38-20 Class 2A first round state playoff game Saturday night at Lane.

‘The first half just killed us,” junior running back O’Daron Henderson said. The Tigers (8-2) refused to give up.

Showing a renewed vigor, running back Willie McCullum (11 carries, 88 yards) scored on a 17-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the second half.

After Eastland (7-3) went up 38-6, Henderson answered with a 51-yard touchdown jaunt around the left end. Henderson finished with 82 yards on six carries for the Tigers.

The Tigers continued to battle. After a William Hood fumble recovery, Daniel Martin closed out the scoring with a three-yard run.

Austin senior quarterback Jaquez Williams engineered the turnaround, running the team’s unorthodox veer offense. “We just made too many mistakes in the first half and they got too far ahead of us,” Williams said.

“We cut down the mistakes in the second half and played the kind of game we’ve done the whole season. We played as a team.”

Austin coach Terry Carter liked his team’s fight. “Defensively we didn’t do a good job filing the gaps in the first half and they hurt us with their running game.

“We showed a lot of character and didn’t stop, especially in the second half. Offensively we went to an unbalanced offensive line and we were able to run off tackle a lot better. I liked our fight and spark in the second half.

“We outscored them 20-8 in the second half and that was pretty good.”

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