NEW DEAL — Seagraves ran the football at will against its first three opponents this season, racking up an area-leading 1,352 rushing yards en route to a 3-0 start.

But the Eagles’ running game hit a snag at Faubion Field on Friday night. Actually, it was more like a concrete wall.

Tenth-ranked New Deal, which had surrendered just 16 rushing yards in its first three games, was even stingier on its homecoming night. The Lions’ swarming, bone-jarring defense stifled Seagraves at every turn, allowing only four first downs, minus-12 rushing yards and minus-3 total yards in a 41-0 victory.

The Lion's running back, Juan Calderon avoids an Eagles player on Friday in New Deal. (Grant Waters - for the Avalance-Journal)

“That’s pretty fantastic,” said New Deal head coach Ron Mayo, who didn’t expect his defense to be so dominant against the Eagles. “Our defense is head hunters, and they run to the ball and get after it.”

The Lions (4-0) did that from the get go, bringing 10 defenders to the line of scrimmage against Seagraves’ run-heavy attack — which had produced at least 40 points in each of the first three games. The result was stop after stop, often for lost yardage, and New Deal’s third shutout of the season.

The Lions held Seagraves’ Jirus Davis, who entered the game with 590 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, to 28 yards on 13 carries. And speedy quarterback Jachee Harrell, who had 228 rushing yards coming in, managed minus-2 on 15 attempts.

“We were surprised,” said New Deal defensive lineman Mathew Russell, who applied constant pressure on quarterbacks Harrell and Miguel Nino. “I thought they’d get a lot of yards and it would be close, but we kept holding them and holding them. We wrapped up, tackled them and pushed backwards.”

Seagraves (3-1) also had been a run stuffer in the early part of the season, having yielded only 205 rushing yards with its 10-1 defense, but New Deal gashed the Eagles for 180 rushing yards in the first half and finished with 252.

Senior quarterback Stephen Bryant, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound TCU pledge, led the way with 111 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries — all in the first half. He also made a couple big plays in the passing game, throwing for a 70-yard score on the first play of the second quarter.

New Deal running back Larry Dennis, who caught the scoring pass, added 87 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Robert Uballe also ran for a TD, and Juan Calderon finished with 52 rushing yards on only five attempts.

“The blocks and the linemen,” Bryant cited as the reason for New Deal’s success. “If it wasn’t for them, this offense wouldn’t be anything. We’ve got to give it up to them, really.”

About the only thing the Lions didn’t do well offensively was hold on to the ball. They lost three fumbles a week after coughing up four, and a wide-open Dennis dropped a pass on New Deal’s first play from scrimmage.

“In order to make a run in (District 6-1A),” Mayo said, “we’re going to have to overcome some of our mistakes.”

Seagraves has even more to work on, namely a passing game that’s produced only 24 yards this year. First-year head coach Armando Minjarez said the Eagles’ future opponents will try to exploit them much the way New Deal did, by stacking up against the run.

Minjarez also lamented his team’s lack of intensity, but mostly, he gave all the credit to the Lions.

“They did a great job, and hats off to the coaches for New Deal,” he said. “They game-planned us pretty well, and all we can do is move on and learn from it.”

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NEW DEAL 41, SEAGRAVES
Seagraves 0 0 0 0 — 0
New Deal 7 21 7 6 — 41
First Quarter
ND—Stephen Bryant 4 run (Ricardo Nunez kick); 2:39
Second Quarter
ND—Larry Dennis 70 pass from Bryant (Nunez kick); 11:48
ND—Bryant 75 run (Nunez kick); 8:57
ND—Dennis 4 run (Nunez kick); 4:01
Third Quarter
ND—Robert Uballe 7 run (Nunez kick); 4:59
Fourth Quarter
ND—Dennis 38 run (kick failed); 8:22

TEAM STATISTICS
SEA ND
First downs 4 15
Rushes-yards 35-(-12) 25-252
Passing yards 9 118
Comp.-att.-int. 1-7-0 3-9-0
Punts-avg. 6-28.0 0-0
Fumbles-lost 7-1 3-3
Penalties-yards 9-70 7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Seagraves, Jirus Davis 13-28, Travis Spiller 1-1, Todd Gibson 5-(-1), Jachee Harrell 11-(-2), Jose Rodriguez 1-(-11), Miguel Nino 3-(-15), Team 1-(-12); New Deal, Stephen Bryant 5-111, Larry Dennis 7-87, Juan Calderon 5-52, Robert Uballe 5-6, James Arevalo 1-4, Morgan Gonzales 1-0, Isaac Chavez 1-(-8).
PASSING: Seagraves, Nino 1-3-0 – 9, Harrell 0-4-0 – 0; New Deal, Bryant 3-9-0 – 118.
RECEIVING: Seagraves, Travis Thompson 1-9; New Deal, Dennis 1-70, Travis Heald 1-43, David Hockenberry 1-5.