The varsity football team played the first game in the panhandle last night against the Lubbock High Westerners. After a delay of game due to a power outage, the Eagles used that suspension of game to ignite their spark for the second half.

The Westerners took a fast lead of 7-21, but Canyon battled back to 21-21 before having to exit the field to wait for the power to be restored.

After the lights came back on, the Eagles were unstoppable during the second half. They defeated Lubbock High by a final score of 48-21.

Junior middle linebacker Dylan Douglass, who finished the night with a fumble recovery and an interception run back for a touchdown, said that the combination of nerves and too much pre-game excitement caused for a shaky first half for the Eagles.

“We weren’t the Canyon Eagles during the first half of the game,” Douglass said. “Our defense gave up 21 points and our offense couldn’t get going.”

The team sat behind the scoreboard during the power outage and had a prolonged break and motivation time.

“The halftime really helped because we got a lot more rest than we normally would, and we were able to get the momentum going after half,” Douglass said.

The defense has a saying of “shark tank” that they yell to keep each other motivated.

“It was started during our playoff game last year by Will Toliver,” Douglass said. “Senior Jace Vessels brought it back this year to describe how vicious our defense is.”

The varsity boys will play the Pampa Harvesters next Friday night at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium beginning at 7 p.m.

“We are going to be coming off of a win, so we will be confident,” Douglass said. “We are expecting a win next week, too.”