Eagles Get Back On Field At Gridiron Classic

Sullivan’s football team was back on the field Thursday and Friday night for the annual Gridiron Classic.

The scrimmage featured the Eagles, Affton, Lutheran South, Scott City and St. Pius X for two nights of early summer football.

Affton didn’t return Friday, but the other four teams remained on a hot, humid night.

The Gridiron Classic concluded Sullivan’s week-long camp session.

Second-year head coach Eddie Haar was pleased with how the Eagles progressed from one night to the next.

“We saw improvement just from yesterday,” Haar said. “We were jumping offsides, but we did it one time today. As a team, we had a big improvement.”

Haar is the third head coach Sullivan’s seniors have played for and 2021 will be the first time they have had the same coach two straight years.

The 2020 season was an uneven year for the program, though Haar seemingly has it pointed in the right direction.

Following the graduation of a big senior class in 2019 and the difficulty of playing in the middle of a pandemic, Sullivan won just three games last season.

It was how they finished and how they looked Friday that makes the upcoming season highly anticipated.

Junior quarterback Gabe Dace connected on some terrific throws.

Senior Alex Goly and sophomore Jeremiah Rodriguez thundered through defenses. Rodriguez was nearly impossible to pull down.

He had several runs that produced more than 10 yards and took one snap the whole 40 yards.

Cambrian Koch picked off two passes.

Each Gridiron Classic over the last several seasons has seen the Eagles trying to find a groove in a new system or a new head coach. On Friday, they looked explosive, even while running basic plays.

“Offensively, we’re running our base stuff. Defensively, same thing,” Haar said.

He looks for effort, improvement, communication and that players are lining up correctly during these types of events.

The Eagles checked all of those boxes over the two nights.

“We had a great effort on both sides of the ball. Guys were flying around, there were no physical mistakes and they had great attitudes,” he said. “Just all around, this last week has been real good for us.”

Haar said the only big offensive change has been adding more play action. Schematically, they will be the same team.

“Absolutely,” he said when asked if players are more comfortable this summer. “Just from last year to this June, we’ve seen a tremendous turnaround.”

Sullivan heads into a dead week, then come back after July 4 for conditioning.

They will compete at a contact camp in Farmington at the end of July.