High school football: Eagles soar past Spartans — and into 5A playoffs

MURRAY — The Skyline Eagles made sure they were headed into next week's 5A playoffs. They didn't leave any room for doubt.

The Eagles' offense was unstoppable Friday night, scoring each time it had the ball in the first half, and blew past Murray 59-35 in a Region 2 game.

Quarterback Chase Dunford rushed for 87 yards and led Skyline's triple-option attack that netted 388 yards rushing. The Eagles broke the game open with a 28-point second quarter and let the reserves play in the second half.

"We were anxious to play this game so we could avoid a play-in game," said Skyline coach Roger Dupaix. "We wanted to get off to a good start. Our kids played well. We had good precision tonight."

With the victory, Skyline secured a spot in the 5A playoffs for the 24th consecutive season. The Eagles finished the regular season with a 7-3 overall mark, 4-2 in region play, which is good enough to earn the No. 3 seed. Skyline will play at Syracuse next week in the first round of the 5A playoffs.

Murray coach Dan Aragon acknowledged that his team could have forced a tiebreaker with a win. But the Spartans had no answer for Dunford or Skyline running back Algernon Brown, who ran for 65 yards on just four carries and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Dunford.

"Offensively, they (the Eagles) were the most complete team we played all year," said Murray coach Dan Aragon, whose team finished its best season since 1996 with a 3-6 overall mark. "We hope to be like that one day."

Dee Hamala gave the Spartans a chance. The shifty Murray quarterback was a threat both running and passing. He was involved in almost every play, rushing 18 times for 67 yards. He also completed 15-of-36 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

His replacement — junior Drew Rindlisbacher — was even better. Rindlisbacher helped Murray match Skyline's second-half scoring by completing 5-of-5 passes for 127 yards, including a couple of touchdown throws to Kamron Sanders.

With Skyline substituting freely, the second half turned into a track meet. Aragon said he was pleased that his team never quit.

"The kids have bought in to what we're trying to do here," he said. "They are more committed. Maybe next year, we'll go to the playoffs, too."