They picked up another easy win, thoroughly dominating winless Coleman 39-7 on Saturday night at Temple's Wildcat Stadium.
Yet the Eagles were quickly reminded in their postgame huddle that being unbeaten after two games means absolutely nothing.
“We just can't say, 'Hey, we're 2-0. We're a good football team,'” said Rogers second-year coach Jeff Walker, whose squad avenged its 35-10 loss to Coleman a year ago in Brownwood. “That's not the case. We're not a good football team right now. I say we're playing hard but we're not a good football team. We can get there.”
You could start to make an argument after watching Saturday night's game that the Eagles are well on their way to being pretty darn good.
Rogers rushed for a season-high 481 yards and got 100-yard games from fullback Chance Marek and tailback E.J. Larkin.
Marek rushed for a career-high 176 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. On Rogers' second offensive play, Marek went 82 yards, dodging defenders near midfield for the touchdown. In the first quarter alone, Marek had 107 yards.
“I've been working hard on staying low and not standing up,” Marek said. “If you stand up, they'll kill you. I just work on staying low and keeping my feet moving.”
Said Walker: “He's getting better at it. He knows he's got a long way to go; he's not where needs to be. He's getting better.”
Larkin broke the 100-yard barrier for the second straight week, going for 155 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Halfback Ryan Pierce had 85 yards. Quarterback Ryan Fares drug defenders into the end zone for a 37-yard score that gave Rogers a commanding 32-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles looked just fine in the second half, scoring on all but two drives, picking up 11 first downs and totaling 238 yards. But they also had six fumbles, losing two, and turned the ball over on downs twice.
“There's something about this offense,” Walker said. “If we could ever get it going . . . it's a ball-rolling-down-a-hill type thing. We're just on that mountain, teetering. If we ever get it, we could be OK.”
A week after limiting Franklin to 139 yards in the opener, Rogers held Coleman to 129 and forced seven punts. Seventy-six of the Bluecats' total yards came in the fourth quarter with Rogers already owning a comfortable lead.
Coleman's only score came with 7:29 remaining when quarterback Zach Doyle burned Rogers with a 22-yard fade route to receiver Trent Hambright.
“We were going for that (seven)-quarter shutout,” Eagles linebacker Tyler Welsh said after Rogers' defense only allowed a first-quarter field goal last week. “That's pretty disappointing, but we held them to only one touchdown.”
Maybe most impressive was the number Rogers did against Coleman's ground game. The Bluecats had 42 yards on 27 carries, averaging just more than 1½ yards per carry.
“Defense played pretty good,” Walker said. “We should have had a shutout. That one fade got us.”
Walker readily pointed out several areas in need of a quick fix. But with District 25-2A play looming in three weeks, the Eagles are pretty close to midseason form already.
“There's something to be said about preseason. People say that it's not a big deal whether you win or lose; you're just getting ready,” Walker said. “But momentum is nice.
“We're going to show up on Monday and try and outwork everybody in the state of Texas."
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
