McAllister accounts for five TDs in Wolves’ win over Sundevils

Aeneas McAllister rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more as Basic held off upstart Eldorado 42-34 on Friday.

McAllister rushed for 126 yards on 14 carries, scoring on runs of 27, 5 and 7 yards. He also completed 6 of 15 passes for 73 yards, including touchdown passes of 12 and 16 yards.

“He did a great job, especially running the ball and finding those open spaces, and he saved us a few times,” Basic coach Jeff Cahill said.

The Wolves (4-3 overall, 1-1 Southeast League) needed every bit of McAllister’s heroics as Eldorado’s passing game gave Basic’s secondary fits all night.

Joshua Brown scored on a 1-yard run with 3:03 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut Basic’s lead to 42-34, and the Sundevils (3-3, 0-2) had a chance to tie the game after recovering an onside kick. However, Brown’s fourth-down pass to the end zone was overthrown, and the Wolves were able to run out the clock.

After the Wolves jumped out to a 14-o first-quarter lead, Eldorado found the end zone when quarterback Deven Dabbs hit Shane Barnes on a fade pattern to cut the Wolves lead in half. Dabbs finished the game 27-for-40 for 314 yards and four touchdowns.

Eldorado’s Carl Crayon picked off McAllister on Basic’s next possession, and five plays later, Dabbs connected with Brown on a 35-yard touchdown to tie the score. Marcel Hemingway then recovered a Basic fumble at the Wolves’ 10-yard line, and Dabbs and Barnes connected one play later to put the Sundevils on top, 21-14.

“We knew they had some real good athletes,” Cahill said. “We told our kids that if we are not on our game, they have athletes that can score and they did. They scrapped tonight. You have to give Eldorado a lot of credit. They played a great game.”

McAllister responded by driving his team 80 yards on six plays, connecting with Dallon Ellett on a 16-yard touchdown pass. The Sundevils blocked the extra point to retain the lead, but the momentum swung back to the Wolves when they blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety and a 22-21 lead with 1:26 left in the first half.

Basic’s Josh Villaros returned the ensuing free kick 78 yards to the Sundevils’ 5. On the next play, McAllister scored on a 5-yard run to put the Wolves up 29-21 at the half.

“The blocked punt was huge,” Cahill said. “We scored there after they took the lead and we were still down a point. Blocking that punt was awesome to give us the lead back and the momentum that swung back in the second quarter.

“Villaros’ kick return was also huge. … It gave us a big lift going into halftime.”

Brown finished with 10 receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns for the Sundevils, including a 71-yard score that cut Basic’s lead to 35-28 with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter.

Ellett added a 17-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes left to play that put the Wolves on top, 42-28.

The victory keeps Basic in the hunt for second place in the Southeast League with a showdown with rival Foothill looming Friday.

“We did a good job against the run, but they were really just throwing the ball, deep balls,” Cahill said. “We definitely have to get better because we have Foothill next week, and we know they can sling it around. We’ve got to improve.

“Absolutely this was a learning experience for our kids. It helped to open their eyes to see they need to put the work in for us to get better.”