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Fort Dale Academy marked an “X” in the win column last Thursday night after defeating Success Unlimited 17-7 in Montgomery.

Eagles head coach James “Speed” Sampley said his team played tough defense, which he believes was his team’s strength in the Class AAA, Region 2, contest.

“We tackled well; that was the difference in the game,” he said. “They moved the ball a little bit, but whenever they did, we would tackle them; they didn’t ever get loose. We didn’t miss tackles. We had a pretty good night defensively.”

Sophomore running back Jacob Foster put the first points of the game on the scoreboard when he galloped into the end zone from 36 yards out as time expired in the first quarter. Spencer Jackson added the extra-point kick to give the Eagles (1-3, 1-1) a 7-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Fort Dale’s offense threatened again with 58 second left until halftime after Jackson recovered a Mustang fumble. However, time ran out, leaving the score 7-0 in favor of the Eagles at the half.

Success Unlimited (1-3, 0-2) scored its only points of the game early in the third quarter on a 4-yard run that was set up by a big pass play. Sampley said that was the Eagles’ only big mistake on defense.

“We played pretty good defense the whole game,” he said. “We gave up a play on third and 20 that got them down close enough to where they finally scored.”

Senior running back Brice Acreman outran the Mustang’s defense for a 46-yard touchdown, while Jackson added the PAT and later split the uprights with a 22-yard field goal to secure the Eagles’ 17-7 victory.

Foster led the Eagles’ stable of backs with 164 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, while Acreman chipped in with 124 yards and score on 22 touches. Junior receiver Nate Richardson hauled in one pass for 4 yards.

“Offensively, we moved the ball really well,” Sampley said.

However, Fort Dale, which had 300 yards of total offense, turned the ball over five times.

“We’ve got to clean that up,” Sampley said. “We’ve got to quit turning the ball over.”

Defensively, the Eagles held the Mustangs to 110 yards of offense. Junior linebacker Caden Coker led the way with six tackles. Senior lineman William Stephens joined Jackson with a fumble recovery.

The Eagles will travel to Evergreen this Friday night to take on non-region foe Sparta in an attempt to make it two wins in row. Sampley said fundamentals will once again be crucial for his team to claim a victory.

“We’ve got to quit turning it over and defensively, we’ve got to tackle well,” he said. “If we do and make our assignments, we’ll be fine. They’re coached by a guy that has been around a long time that is going to look for all of the spots where he can attack you and on offense, they run 25 to 30 different formations, so we’ve got to know what we’re doing and line up correctly. The key to it is us playing well.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.