By BRYAN GASKINS
GREENTOWN — Eastern football coach Josh Edwards came into the season with an optimistic outlook following a rebuilding project that offered signs of promise, but just one win over the last two seasons.
The Comets validated Edwards’ confidence Friday night.
Quarterback Jonathan Keith and wide receiver Blake Donson combined on three touchdown passes to lead Eastern past Class 2A co-No. 8-ranked Oak Hill 27-15 at Cogdell Memorial Field.
“Josh has done a great job with his team,” Oak Hill coach Bud Ozmun said. “They were young last year, but you could tell he had them going in the right direction. Eastern is a well-schooled and well-drilled team and they showed it [Friday].
“If we see a better quarterback than Keith this year, I’ll be shocked,” Ozmun added. “That kid has poise, he has ability and he leads that team. That’s exactly what every coach is looking for.”
Keith connected on 23 of 41 pass attempts for 285 yards. He had three touchdown passes, all to Donson, and one interception.
Keith spread his passes around to six different receivers — and he spread the credit around following the game. He noted the protection he received from his offensive line and running backs, and the efforts of his receivers.
“It was a good night. Offense was clicking and the defense did even better,” the Comet senior said.
Keith sparkled in the second quarter, directing a pair of long scoring drives to send the Comets into halftime with a 14-3 lead.
After Oak Hill took a 3-0 lead on Eric Shorten’s 26-yard field goal on the second play of the quarter, Keith completed 5 of 7 passes to fuel a nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive. He connected with Donson on a 33-yard fade down the right sideline for a go-ahead TD.
The Comets turned the ball over on their next drive, but Caleb Gibson protected their lead by picking off a Golden Eagle pass on the Eastern 2-yard line with 1:23 left in the half. The Comets followed with a 98-yard drive that Keith and Donson capped with a 30-yard TD connection with 8.6 seconds left. Donson caught the ball over the middle about five yards from paydirt, bounced off two defenders and then stretched into the end zone. Sean Ryan added the PAT kick for a 14-3 lead.
Keith completed 16 of 24 pass attempts for 237 yards in the first half, which was played under ideal conditions. Halftime and a good chunk of the third quarter featured heavy rain — and the Golden Eagles took advantage to score a pair of ground touchdowns for a 15-14 lead with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
The Comets had an answer in Roark. He keyed the next drive with a 31-yard run into Golden Eagle territory and a 16-yard run into the red zone. Four plays later, Keith found Donson over the middle for a 7-yard TD and a 20-15 lead with 48.5 seconds remaining in the quarter.
After Eastern forced Oak Hill into a three-and-out series, the Comets delivered the knockout blow with a nine-play scoring drive. Roark keyed it with 39 yards on four carries — including a 16-yard TD sprint up the middle. Ryan’s extra-point kick made it 27-15 with 8:11 remaining.
Edwards loved how his squad stuck together after losing the lead — and how they responded to the challenge of changing field conditions.
“We went from our spread passing game to a spread running game and that’s a credit to our offensive line and to Cale Roark. Those guys had a will to move it down the field,” he said.
Eastern punter Kelly Kingseed protected the lead with a 34-yard punt that pinned Oak Hill on its own 2-yard line at 4:37. Mike Haynes recovered a Golden Eagle fumble at 2:36 to seal the win.
Roark finished with 86 yards on 13 carries. Donson had seven receptions for 110 yards and the three TDs. Gatlin Hinesley also had a nice game, catching seven passes for 60 yards and carrying the ball twice for another 18 yards.
The Comets snapped a five-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles with the win.
“Obviously, we’ve been failing in the past, but now we’re here,” Keith said. “We’ve been saying it’s coming the last two years. We’re here now, we’re ready to go.
“This feels great, but we’re ready for some more. We’re still hungry — we’re starving.”
• Eastern played without two of its top wide receivers, Joey Price and Tyler Harnish. Both served one-game suspensions that carried over from the 2008-09 school year.
