Eagles Maintain Authority Through Season
Sullivan wrapped up another excellent season on the gridiron across the 2021-22 school year.
Alex Goly, Ian King, Jeremiah Rodriguez, and Franky Erxleben ran for over 2,000 yards and helped Sullivan end with a record of 5-6. Goly scored the most touchdowns for Sullivan with 10. Goly had 782 rushing yards. King scored five touchdowns and finished with 720 rushing yards. Before sustaining a late season injury, Rodriguez rushed for six touchdowns and 401 yards. Erxleben scored three touchdowns and had 283 rushing yards. Gabe Dace threw 730 yards and found the end zone seven times. The speed of Gabe Dace gave him 232 rushing yards on the season. He picked up four touchdowns on the ground for Sullivan.
Rodriguez and Erxleben are looking to make their return next season. Gabe Dace will hold the quarterback role again. Goly and King both graduated in 2022 and Goly will continue his football career at Missouri Baptist.
Head Coach Eddie Haar’s leadership got in a special routine during his second season at command of the Eagles. The chemistry of Haar and his players shined all season.
The pace of the season started when the Eagles ran through the Cuba Wildcats on the road, 54-6. Cuba struck first in the game but Sullivan answered back with a strong run by Rodriguez and a two point conversion before the Eagles dominated the remainder of the game. The momentum was shifted the following game.
The Festus Tigers traveled to the Sullivan home season opener. Festus drew first blood in the first quarter but was answered back by a damaging Gabe Dace to Gavin Dace touchdown pass. The Tigers answered back with another touchdown before the first quarter ended. Festus drove to the end zone two more times before the first half ended. Sullivan squeezed another score out from a run by King but Festus was victorious, 26-12.
Sullivan was defeated by Four Rivers Conference opponents the next two weeks after the first week heartbreak. The Union Wildcats demolished the Eagles 41-6 and fell to St. Clair 14-8. Gabe Dace only threw one interception to account for the losses and Washington’s high scoring game.
The Eagles struggled the two weeks, despite Goly slotting 19 carries and running for 65 yards. Rodriguez had 22 carries the two weeks and ran for 91 yards. Even Gabe Dace’s persistence wasn’t enough to cap off the victories with 38 rushing yards on the two weeks and the 156 passing yards.
Sullivan was successful the following week when they traveled up Interstate 44 to Pacific. The momentum for the season shifted again when Sullivan struck first with a 61-yard touchdown run by Erxleben. The Eagles kept up the stride when Rodriguez made two big runs to find the end zone again.
Pacific answered back when Ethan Hall made a 73 yard touchdown before the first quarter ended. Sullivan struck twice more, with Rodriguez finding the end zone before Pacific answered back. Sullivan wasn’t shaken one bit when they added to their lead, 34-12, to end the first half.
Rodriguez, Goly, and Erxleben recorded three more touchdowns before the clock ran out on a final score with Sullivan successful, 55-26.
Sullivan was victorious the next two weeks at home. The Eagles trounced the Hermann Bearcats on senior night, 32-7. Hermann drew first blood with a score midway through the second quarter. The Eagles answered back with a touchdown pass from Gabe Dace to Goly.
Sullivan came alive in the third quarter after Kayden Bryan intercepted the ball and ran into the end zone. Goly extended the lead on another touchdown with a little over a minute left in the third. The Eagles extended their lead again when Gabe Dace threw a cannon to Sam Summers deep in the endzone. King scored for Sullivan again in the fourth to put away Hermann.
Strength from the week before continued into homecoming when the Eagles snapped St. James, 21-7. Sullivan secured the win with two touchdowns in the first quarter. Erxleben ran the ball for the first one and King did the routine repeat. St. James scored their only touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter before Ty Shetley capped off the victory.
Sullivan fell the next two weeks to finish out their regular season. The Eagles struggled against the number one seeded, Owensville Dutchmen, 35-6. Sullivan was shutout by the Raiders the following game, 37-0. Rodriguez went down in the bout against Owensville but not before he claimed 55 rushing yards.
Goly ran for 57 yards against Owensville and the only score by Sullivan in the two weeks was a pass from Dace to Dace. The North County Raiders secured their victory with four touchdowns in the first half. The defense of North County stopped the Eagles from scoring once and held them at 104 yards rushing and 26 passing yards.
It was a back and forth battle during the first game of Class 3 District 4 playoffs. Sullivan defeated the Westminster Wildcats, 21-14. The Eagles struck first when Goly ran to the end zone for ten yards. Sullivan marched in another score with a run by King. Sullivan notched a two point conversion and led 14-0. The Wildcats answered back before the first half ended. Sullivan struck again with a run by Erxleben and Westminster battled back with a score of their own with only 2:21 left in the game. The clock ran out and the defense of Sullivan held them off for a 21-14 win.
The No. 1 seeded Dutchmen won the next week, 35-28. The Eagles put up a bigger fight the second time they met and knew how to handle Owensville. Owensville struck first with a ten yard run, but Sullivan answered back on a one yard quarterback sneak by Dace. The Dutchmen scored again on a 53-yard pass before the first quarter ended. Sullivan got their vengeance with a nine yard run by Goly. Owensville scored twice more before the first half ended. The Dutchmen tallied a touchdown with 7:05 left in the third quarter and Sullivan answered back with a touchdown pass from Gabe Dace to Erxleben with a little over two minutes left in the third. The Eagles marched down the field one last time in the 2021-22 season when Goly ran for six.
Tryouts for the 2022-2023 fall sports are Monday, August 8.