The Escambia County High School Blue Devils are back on track improving to 2-2 with a 28-15 victory over the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles Friday night on the road in East Brewton.

ECHS head coach Mark Heaton said picking up a second region win is big but corrections must be made in order to continue seeing success on the field.

“We executed some big plays,” Heaton said. “We didn’t have as many mental mistakes. We played harder but we missed some opportunities on some big plays. Once we start making some big plays and get on a roll it’s going to slingshot us into the second half of the season.”

The Devils did make some big plays in their double-digit win over the Eagles but missed opportunities also plagued ECHS as they failed to score following several turnover conversions.

Heaton said he was proud of his defense’s performance, as they took the field without lineman Tyler Nero who missed Friday’s game to be with an ailing family member. Heaton added, however, steps must be taken in practice in order to continue the improvement.

“They played very, very well,” Heaton said. “I thought they played well up front. Some young guys had to step in with Tyler being out. It’s been tough on them but they stepped up and did what we needed them to do.”

Despite a good overall night it took the ECHS defense some time to warm up against Neal as the Blue Eagles struck first in Friday’s contest getting in the end zone off a short pass late in the first quarter.

Mid-way through the second period the Blue Devils were able to answer Neal’s score with a 13-yard touchdown run from quarterback Chris Johnson, but a missed 2-point conversion left the Devils trailing 7-6. With 3 minutes left before the half ECHS would strike again taking a 12-7 lead following a 5-yard touchdown scamper from Walt Franklin, but a Johnson pass picked off in the end zone would keep the 2-point conversion out of reach once again for the Devils.

Looking to head into the locker room down by only 5 points Neal began a conservative late-half drive but gave the Devils a gem, putting the ball on the ground for ECHS’ Markiece Daughtry to scoop up and take 36 yards for a score. The third time was a charm as the Devils converted the 2-point conversion on a toss from Johnson to Franklin to put ECHS ahead 20-7 at the half.

Third quarter action saw both teams fighting penalties early but once again the Devils would be able to capitalize with a huge 89-yard touchdown hook-up between Johnson and receiver Carl Staples to widen the ECHS scoring gap leaving them ahead 28-7.

Despite recovering 2 more Neal turnovers the Devils would not find the end zone again in Friday’s match up but were able to suppress Neal’s at times-potent rushing attack, in spite of helping the Eagle offense at times with penalty yardage. With Blue Devil back-ups getting some reps late in the game Neal finally found pay dirt once more with less than a minute to play off a short touchdown pass.

The Blue Devils (2-2, 1-1) will meet Faith Academy Friday, Sept. 24 at home in Atmore. Kick off at 7 p.m.