Eaton's comeback scrambles Florence

FLORENCE - Scott Souther brought Eaton back from the brink of elimination.

Souther, Eaton's quarterback, scored a pair of scrambling, fourth- quarter touchdowns in a 22-21 Class 2A semifinal victory over Florence on Saturday.

The win marked the second straight year Eaton has ended Florence's season. In 1999, Florence dropped a 32-28 heart-breaker in the quarterfinals at Eaton.

Eaton takes on Roosevelt, a 20-14 overtime winner over Yuma in the other semifinal, next Saturday in the championship game. Roosevelt defeated Eaton 17-14 early this season.

Florence led 21-7 when tailback Nick Maez connected with a wide- open Mike Marsh on an 8-yard touchdown pass with 11 minutes, 15 seconds to go in the fourth period.

But Souther answered right back by avoiding the rush and hitting Billy Brant on a 60-yard touchdown bomb. Eaton's big tight end Todd Stanclift bulled over for the conversion to cut the deficit to 21- 15.

Eaton took the lead with 3:43 remaining. Souther rolled to his right, then threw back across the field to Tim Blackman, who caught the ball on his knees at the goal-line with a defender draped on his back.

"We had them on the ropes and let them get right back into it," Florence coach Mark Buderus said. "Souther got away from us a couple of times. He shouldn't have, we had him. We had chances at him. He's a great player and did what he had to do to make the plays."

Florence starting quarterback Bubba Pfaff, who missed three quarters of last weekend's game against La Junta because of a sprained toe, left the game in the fourth period because of the nagging injury.

Sophomore quarterback Clint Buderus came in and connected on a key fourth-down pass to Mike Bowie near midfield in the final minutes. Faced with another fourth down, Buderus was intercepted by Blackman with 52 seconds left.

"We had our chances," Mark Buderus said. "I thought we were a lot tougher defensively this time. That was one of our goals after last year was to get better ... defensively. Now we've done that, now we've got to figure out a way to get over the hump."

For three quarters, Florence moved the ball at will on the ground with Maez. The senior, who rushed for 257 yards on 29 carries, put his club up 14-0 on a 62-yard scamper early in the second quarter.

With Eaton having to respect the run, Maez took a pitch early in the fourth quarter and winged a touchdown pass to Marsh, putting Florence up 21-7.

"The line blocked their hearts out," Maez said. "We both gave it our all and they came out on top."

- Troy Schwindt may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

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