By MATT SANTOLERI
Coach Judy and his Smyrna Eagles football team are allowed to bask in that praise after capping off another incredible season with their second DIAA State Championship in as many years with a 36-14 win over Middletown.
The Eagles finished 12-0, riding a remarkable 22-game winning streak dating back to last year to the take the state title.
Led by rookie quarterback Carson Wentz the Eagles came back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit on two consecutive drives that started with 6:12 left in the final stanza. But the effort fell short.
Baltimore (8-6) escaped with a 27-26 win over the Birds who gave the home team all they could handle at M&T Bank Stadium.
With the loss, the Eagles fell to 5-9 on the season and have lost five straight (their first since 2012) . After starting the season with three wins, the Eagles are 2-9 since.
Eagles rushed well against one of the best defenses in the NFL against the run. The Birds sacked Pro Bowl quarterback and South Jersey native Joe Flacco three times. Caleb Sturgis was 4 for 4 on field goals…yet Eagle lost their fifth straight game to the Ravens 27-26.
Allen Barbre will test his hamstring at game time in Baltimore. Matt Tobin is out as is Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Brandon Brooks is dealing with anxiety issues that have kept him out of two of last three games plus Lane Johnson is still out because of his suspension.
So Eagles rookie head coach Doug Pederson will have his hands full Sunday when the Birds face off against the Baltimore Ravens who are fighting for their playoff lives.
Dallas arrived with an 11-game winning streak and the NFL’s fourth-ranked offense, but didn’t score a point in the final three quarters as the Giants earned an exciting and fiercely-competitive 10-7 victory.
The Eagles 2016 season, as far as making the playoffs, has been decided. It’s over.
That happened when the Birds (5-8) dropped a hard-fought decision to the Washington Redskins (7-5-1), 27-22, at Lincoln Financial Field on a cold but clear late fall day in South Philadelphia.
Darren Sproles had 27 yards on five carries. The two-time Pro Bowl special teams player had to leave the game after Deshazor Everett, a second-year safety from Texas A&M, plowed into Sproles as he prepared to field a punt at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Matt Rhule is gone. He’s off to Baylor to try and do in Waco, TX what he did on North Broad Street. It won’t be easy, very serious off-field issues derailed what was a great story at Baylor. The Bears have always been a little brother to Texas and Texas A&M but Art Briles used […]
Sophomore running back shares Big Ten Most Valuable Player honors with Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 8, 2016 – Sophomore running back Saquon Barkley (Coplay, Pa.) has added the illustrious Chicago Tribune Silver Football for the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player to his résumé. He shares the honor with Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett.
Lee ranked tied for fourth in the NFL with 112 tackles
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Dec. 7, 2016 – A total of 31 Penn State football alumni are populating the active rosters of 20 National Football League teams. The Nittany Lions annually are among the top 20 programs nationally in producing players in the NFL. Each week throughout the year, GoPSUsports.com will provide updates on the exploits of these former Nittany Lion greats.
Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson Press Conference
12.7.16
DOUG PEDERSON: Good morning. Let me just up update you on practice: First of all, we’ll be inside. The field is wet and saturated from the rain, so we’ll go inside for practice. Second thing, injuries for today: [WR] Dorial Green-Beckham, we’ll hold him from practice. [He is] still real sore in that oblique area. And then Big V [T Halapoulivaati Vaitai], again, he’s doing well, but we’ll hold him from practice. He’s still a little bit away from returning.
