Eldred leads Otsego to win over Allegan

omething had to give when Otsego and Allegan met on the gridiron on Friday, Oct. 7.
After all, both teams entered the showdown sporting identical 0-6 records.
It turned out to be Otsego sophomore quarterback Will Eldred who did the giving … as in giving the homecoming crowd at Bulldog Stadium something to cheer about.
Eldred ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in leading the Bulldogs to the 30-19 victory over the Tigers.
“Will’s a tough, competitive kid,” Otsego coach John Kubiak said. “He’s very athletic and he’s able to make some things happen out there.
“He’s only a sophomore, so obviously he’s still figuring out some things at this level. It’s really that way for entire team. We’re very young. But they all went out and did a good job tonight.”
The fact that Otsego had to rally from a 13-2 deficit made the win all the more satisfying for Kubiak and his players.
The comeback began with 2:22 to play in the opening half. That’s when the Bulldogs took possession at the Allegan 34-yard line after forcing the Tigers to put from deep in their own territory.
On the first play of the drive, Eldred raced 31 yards to set up a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Four plays later, Eldred forced his way into the end zone from the 1-yard line.
The successful extra-point kick from Cooper Eastman cut Otsego’s deficit to 13-9 heading to halftime.
“Getting that touchdown right before halftime was big,” Kubiak said. “It gave us some momentum and a little confidence heading into the locker room at halftime.”
That momentum and confidence carried over into the second half as the Bulldogs scored on a 10-yard pass from Eldred on the first possession of the third quarter.
Eastman again made good on the extra point as Otsego took its first lead of the game at 16-13.
After taking over on downs when Allegan failed to convert on a fourth-down situation on the next possession, Eldred upped the Otsego lead to 23-13 thanks to a 36-yard scoring run.
The Tigers did respond with a 28-yard scoring pass from Chris Hitchcock to Damyon Wedge to make it 23-19, but Eldred threw a 12-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter to end the scoring.
“Of course it was good to get that first win,” Kubiak said. “With it being homecoming, you never know exactly how the kids will respond. We had that slow start, but we were able to regroup and play really well the rest of the way.”