BETHALTO – When it came down to it, Civic Memorial's Corey Price came up big recently when he had to in the 31-27 Eagle win over Jersey at home.
Price had 16 carries for 106 yards and three touchdowns, including what turned out to be the game-winner with 5:46 left in the final quarter as the Eagles opened their Mississippi Valley Conference campaign with a win over a league rival.
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“They (the Panthers) came out and they were all go; it's a big rivalry game, you know how it is,” Price, a senior back, said. “There were a lot of personal fouls and we tried to get through it. We had to win this game.
“I thought it could have went both ways, but it definitely went ours.”
On the last sequence of the game when the Panthers had the ball, Jersey quarterback Drew Sauerwein threw for the end zone with the tip drill going; the ball bounced a few times before being knocked to the ground before the final play of the game. “I'm so glad the bounces (went the Eagles' wey),” Price said. “There's still a lot of work to do; we'll get back at it Monday and start grinding it out. In six days, we've got another game (at Mascoutah Friday night), just taking it game by game and see how it goes.”
“Our fight and our (offensive) line” made the difference in the game, Price felt. “I saw a whole lot more fight this week then I saw against Mount Zion (a game CM dropped in Week 3). People fought back and people had confidence this week. I think that was the big game-changer.
“It definitely could had gone both ways, but our confidence definitely kept us in the game.”
Right before the final sequence, Price fumbled the ball on an exchange between him and quarterback Brayden Pierce on a handoff near midfield, a turnover that could had been costly. “I slipped and I was trying to recoup and do too much,” Price said of the fumble on a field that was still slick from rainstorms Friday night that forced the game to be postponed to Saturday night.
“Corey's a great player,” Eagle coach Mike Parmentier said. “We want to put the ball in his hands as much as possible and good things will happen for us.”
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