Purple Eagles first victory is a thriller

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion defensive lineman Jackson Snook is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the go ahead touchdown late in the Purple Eagles thrilling 30-27 win over visiting East Aurora/Holland this evening.

It was a thriller as Albion snapped a season long six game losing streak by nipping visiting East Aurora/Holland 30-27 in a B2 Division game this evening.

And it was the defense which came up huge twice in the final five minutes to earn the Purple Eagles that elusive first victory.

Trailing 27-24, Albion rallied into the lead for the first time at 30-27 when defensive lineman Jackson Snook stole the ball from an East Aurora running back and ran five yards into the endzone for what proved to be the game winning touchdown.

“I just took it from him. Nobody saw it and I just ran,” exclaimed a jubilant Snook.

The Purple Eagles defense then preserved the thrilling win by stopping a fourth down East Aurora play at the Albion one yard line with only 15 seconds remaining. Snook and Logan Kast teamed up to make the big fourth down tackle

Logan Kast (64) and Jackson Snook (71) team up to stop East Aurora running back Griffin Houde a yard short of the goal line on fourth down with 15 seconds remaining preserving the Purple Eagles narrow win. Kaiden Froman (23) moves in to assist.

“The kids stepped up,:” said Albion Coach David Skryp. ” They were super excited especially the way it ended with a goal line stand. It showed all the hard work and effort they have put in and the adversity they have overcome.

The Blue Devils led 21-12 at the half as quarterback Jackson Suckow threw a pair of touchdown passes and Benjamin Ziegler returned a kickoff 80 yards for the other TD.

Elijah Doxey scored both of Albion’s first half touchdowns on a 13 yard run and a 43 yard pass reception from quarterback Bo Preston.

Preston then scored two touchdowns himself in the third quarter on runs of 1 and 25 yards to keep Albion within three at 27-24. A pass interception by Kaiden Froman set up the first of those two scores.

In between those two scores, the Blue Devils got a nine yard TD run from Griffin Houde to go up 27-18.

Albion will close out the regular season with a B2 Division game at Maryvale next Friday evening.

Elijah Doxey scores Albion’s first touchdown.