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By Gary Thomas

The Eagles of Fort Dale hosted the Escambia Cougars in opening region play for both teams Friday as they came away with a dominating performance, a 42-7 victory. 

Eagle sophomore quarterback Blake Slagley did a masterful job from the spot as he replaced injured quarterback Corey Salter. A rain-soaked field saw many miscues and bad snaps early and often for both teams, as the Eagles finally got on the scoreboard first on a 71-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead on a 28-yard scoring toss.

Behind by a touchdown, the Cougars got their only score of the night on a 71-yard dash into the Eagle end zone to make the score tied at 7-7. 

On the Eagles second series, Dane Winters blasted into the end zone for their second touchdown of the night. The two-point kick by Clay Gardner was true to put Fort Dale up 14-7, and they never looked back. 

After a strong Eagle defensive stand forced a Cougar punt, Slagley would score on a 27-yard run up the middle of the Cougar defense for a 21-7 lead still in quarter number one.

In the second quarter, Fort Dale tailback Jackson Black would close out the first half scoring on a 16-yard run around the left end to give the Eagles a 28-7 half-time lead. 

Second-half action once again saw Black tally his second score of the game as the Eagles widened their advantage by three touchdowns over the Cougars. Early in the fourth and final quarter, Black earned his third score of the night on a five-yard run.

The Eagles closed out the game scoring when Parker Crenshaw scored from 17 yards out as the final score read Fort Dale 42, Escambia Academy 7.

A few game stats saw the Eagles roll up three minutes, 57 seconds, 357 yards on the ground, compared to only 46 yards for the Cougars. From the Eagle backfield, Isaac Lowery had 127 yards rushing on 15 carries, Winters had 71 yards on eight totes and the Eagles kicking game was solid as place kicker Gardner went six-of-six on his PAT kicks.

The eagles were led by Brock Tolson, Jackson Rogers, Chandler Little and Black with four tackles. Lowry had three solo hits. 

Brandon Alford and Travis Zacchini both recovered fumbles, one each in the game.

The Eagles, 1-0 in Region play and 2-0 over all, will ride to Grove Hill to take on the winless Clarke Prep Gators this Friday night with kickoff set for 7 p.m.