Iowa beats Erath in second half

ERATH - The Iowa Yellow Jackets out-gained the Erath Bobcats 354 yards of offense to 181 yards en route to a 20-3 victory to open the 2014 season.
The Bobcats scored first on their second possession of the game when Hunter Touchet kicked a 22 yard field goal. It stayed that way until Iowa scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left in the first half to make it an 8-3 game.
The Yellow Jackets intercepted an Erath pass and ran it back to the EHS 32 with less than 45 seconds remaining in the first half. It took them only seven plays to score and take the 8-3 lead into half time.
Erath’s bad luck continued in the opening seconds of the second half.
On the opening second half kickoff, Erath muffed the Iowa kick and Iowa fell on the ball. Iowa went 27 yards in four plays to make it a 14-3 game 80 seconds into the third period. In a matter of two minutes (the final minute of the first half and the first minute of the second half), Iowa scored 14 points.
To make matters worse, Erath lost its top rusher, Elijah Mitchell on Iowa’s kick-off to the Bobcats after the second touchdown. Mitchell, who rushed for 1,000 yards last year, took the kick off and ran it back 12 yards. Trying to avoid a tackler, he turned his ankle. Mitchell, who had 12 carries for 24 yards in the first half, did not return into the game until late in the fourth period. He only carried the ball one time in the second half and finished with 27 total yards.
Erath High Head Coach David Comeaux said that the fumble play in the opening seconds of the second half may have been the turning point of the game.
“That was a pivotal play,” said Comeaux.
With Mitchell on the bench, Erath had to go to the air in the second half.
EHS quarterback Ben LeBlanc threw 13 passes in the second half. The good news is that he completed four for 51 yards. The bad news is that he also threw two interceptions in the second half and a total of three for the night.
On the night, he was 13 out of 27 passes for 151 yards.
The top receivers for EHS were Ross Granger with four catches for 70 yards, Luke Young with three for 32 yards and Erik Belanger with two for 16 yards.
Iowa found success moving the football on the ground and in the air.
Three runnings backs had seven or more carries. Colinje Wilridge, No. 4, led Iowa with 17 totes for 89 yards. The Yellow Jackets finished with 184 yards rushing and 170 yards passing.
Comeaux said with Iowa moving the football and staying on the field, it wore Erath’s defense down.
“Our defense continued to play. I thought they played their hearts out,” he said. “I am proud of them; however, they were on the field to long. They got worn out.”
Spencer Green, Erath’s linebacker, led the defense with more than 10 tackles.
Erath (0-1) will be back in action Friday on the road against Catholic High School (1-0)