After a heartbreaker last week against Pike Liberal Arts, the Fort Dale Eagles bounced back with a 27-13 win over Hooper Academy Friday night.

The game didn’t start off too well for the Eagles, who fumbled on their second play of the game.

It wasn’t long before Hooper capitalized with a one-yard touchdown run, but Kendall Gibson blocked the extra point to keep the margin a 6-0.

In the second quarter, the Eagles fought back with an eight-yard touchdown run from Daniel Nolan to put FDA up by a point.

With 1:59 seconds to go before halftime, Fort Dale added another score when things got a little backwards for the Eagles.

Usually, it’s Dustin Till throwing the passes, but this time, he was on the receiving end of a 62-yard pass from Todd Burkett that went the distance and made the score 14-6 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Hooper cut the lead to one point again with a 12-yard run from Morgan Faulkner, but that would be the last points of the game for the Colts.

Toward the end of the third quarter, the Eagles embarked on a 16-play, 74-yard drive capped by a seven-yard run from Jeffrey Stead.

Till added an insurance touchdown with a one-yard run with 1:53 left in the game.

“We didn’t play with much emotion and came out a little flat,” said head coach James “Speed” Sampley. “That’s a little understandable between two big games, but you can’t afford to do that.”

“We didn’t play to our ability, but we played well enough to win,” Sampley continued. “We missed a lot of tackles and we’ve got to execute better offensively, but we can get there. Macon-East is another big one for us next week.”

Stead finished the game with 20 rushes for 137 yards, while Nolan had 14 rushes for 67 yards.

Daniel Lowe led the defense with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery, while Gibson and Burkett each had an interception. Stephen Till also added a fumble recovery.