The statistics from Cypress Falls’ 55-32 win at Strake Jesuit on Friday night suggests the Eagles’ coaches might not be warm and fuzzy over the defensive effort.

That the Eagles allowed four touchdowns and 360 yards leads to the wrong conclusion.

A week after Cypress Ridge quarterback Russell Shepard torched the Eagles for 341 rushing yards and five touchdown runs of 40 yards or more, Cy Ridge held previously unbeaten Strake Jesuit to 10 points through three quarters to open a 31-point lead and undoubtedly drop a few jaws in the District 17-5A game.

The Eagles (4-2 overall, 2-1 district) intercepted Crusaders (5-1, 2-1) quarterback Jeff McVaney twice, forced two fumbles and laid countless huge hits to unleash a week’s worth of frustration.

“They came out tonight and played the way we knew they could. They’ve struggled the last few weeks,” Cy Falls coach David Raffield said. “(Last week) was not Cy Falls football. We wanted to come out tonight and set the tone and get back on the winning track.”

Shane Turner rushed 17 times for 122 yards and five touchdowns to pace the offense, which got 404 yards passing, two passing touchdowns and one rushing score from quarterback Kolby Gray.

Cy Falls scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter, then survived Strake Jesuit’s 22-point fourth.

“We’re good at both passing and running,” Turner said. “If they try to stop the run, we’ll pass on them. If they try to stop the pass, we’ll run. And the offensive line. That makes the offense good.”

The Eagles forced punts on the Crusaders’ first three possessions and held them to a field goal until the end of the first half, giving the offense plenty of breathing room to build a 20-10 halftime lead. Gray threw a 51-yard score to Denzel Wells and ran in from a yard.

“Our coaches told us to make one stop at a time, get off the field and get the offense the ball and let them score,” senior defensive back Xavier Witchet said. “You read your keys. It’s the basics of football.”

McVaney threw an 11-yard touchdown to Kellan Belanger – they later connected from 28 and 22 yards – with 2:06 left in the half to make it 13-10. But Cy Falls answered with an eight-play, 80-yard drive culminating in Turner’s first touchdown, from 7 yards.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior scored from 31 and 13 yards and Gray found Darius Bolden from 27 yards to build a 41-10 lead with 1:02 left in the third.

“It was all my offensive line,” said Turner, who scored from 1 and 7 yards in the fourth. “They opened the holes for my big runs. They held down big No. 90 (Strake Jesuit’s David King, an Oklahoma commitment) downfield. They’re the ones who helped me get the yards I got today.”

Strake Jesuit posted most of its yards in the fourth quarter, when McVaney threw two scores to Belanger and one to Davis Burck with nine seconds to play.

McVaney was 18-of-36 for 249 yards.

Wells caught six passes for 187 yards and Bolden six for 148.

“This made us feel good because a lot of people started to doubt us,” Witchet said. “But you get over losses, come on with new stuff and go after our next opponent. You start over.”

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