Eagles Look to Regroup Following Big Loss, Bye Week

It has been a roller coaster ride so far this season for head coach Scott Surgener's Brentwood Eagles football team—one year after playing for a state championship.

With the loss of a talented senior class that helped the Eagles capture the Missouri Class 2 state runner-up trophy in 2009, Surgener has had to work even harder with a younger and inexperienced group heading into this season.

After splitting its first six games, Brentwood (3-3) will enjoy a much-needed break in the schedule during Week 7 of the season before resuming play at home against winless Barat Academy (0-6) on Oct. 15.

"We have to regroup. We have to get some things fixed," Surgener said. "It's a new season with districts coming up. So that's what we have to focus on now."

The off-week comes after a stinging 45-14 road defeat against Lutheran South in which the Eagles turned the ball over five times and imploded during the second half. The Lancers tallied 36 unanswered points to run away with the victory.

"They're big and athletic, but we have to play better and just didn't do that," Surgener said following the loss. "It was just a miserable second half. There isn't much more to say."

While Lutheran South head coach Matt Marty thought the final score was not indicative of how close the game was for three quarters, he was more than happy to walk away with an impressive win that evened the Lancers record at 3-3.

"We have all of the respect in the world for Brentwood," Marty said after the win. "We prepared for them like it was a playoff game. Even though they did lose some seniors, they have some guys that have that experience of playing for a state title.

If not for a dramatic come-from-behind win against the Cuba Wildcats to send the homecoming crowd into frenzy during Week 5, Brentwood would have entered its bye week on a downward spiral.

Instead, quarterback Ryan Jones and tailback Tyler Zelt helped direct the Eagles on a 15-play, 83-yard drive in under three minutes to pull out a wild 7-6 victory.

"It's funny because that was our two-minute offense, and we just put it in Monday (the week of the game)," Suregner admitted. "We worked on it pretty consistently all week leading up to the game. So I'm real pleased with the job they did with that."

If not for starting tailback Andrew Erby going down with an ankle sprain, Zelt may not have played such an important role on that final drive. But in football, injuries unfortunately are part of the game, and Zelt ran with his opportunity.

"Tyler Zelt ran hard from point A to point B," Surgener said. "Tyler is a good running back as is Andrew. So it's a good tandem. They see the field well. They are physical. They do a great job running the ball."

Erby tried to play against Lutheran South with his ankle heavily taped, but he was clearly not at 100 percent. Still, Erby leads the team in rushing with 461 yards on 61 carries with six touchdowns. Zelt has gained 297 yards on 65 touches with three touchdowns.

Ryan Jones has completed nearly 55 percent of his passes (44 of 81) for 621 yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions. The junior has also picked up 112 yards and two scores on 28 keepers.

Elie Moore and Dee Edwards each have double-digit receptions. Moore leads the way with 159 yards and two touchdowns on 12 catches while Edwards has 10 grabs for 138 yards and one score.

Defensively, Tyler Jones leads the team with 60 tackles and two fumble recoveries followed by Adam Keck with 30 tackles, including four sacks and four fumble recoveries.

"We came off a big year last year and graduated a lot of good kids that were part of that program," Surgener said. "We still have a lot of kids from that program that just want to compete. We're doing that. We have some kids who are still learning. Every week we try to improve and get better."