RUSSELLVILLE -- Vilonia dug itself a quick hole Thursday evening.
Less than halfway through the first quarter, the Eagles were already down two scores to Russellville before they had even scored their first points.
However, the two-score lead was no problem for Vilonia (3-0), which came to win 40-28 at Russellville (2-1).
"We talk about adversity, we coach that in the offseason and this is a perfect example of it tonight," Vilonia Coach Todd Langrell said. "It's one play at a time. We talk about that. It's just, 'Win the next play' ... and if you do that over the course of the game, you're probably going to win."
The contest was a one-sided shootout, with the two squads combining for 791 yards to go with their 68 points, though just under two-thirds of those yards came from Vilonia. The Eagles finished with 501 total yards, 430 of those coming through the air via Austin Myers. The quarterback had a 22-of-36 passing night and threw for 5 scores in the win. He also added 48 yards rushing.
"I can't say enough about Austin Myers," Langrell said. "He's a dude, and there needs to be some college coaches that ought to be looking to trap him because he can handle whatever you put on him."
As big as Meyer's night was, his go-to target also came up big on several occasions. Jamison Hinsley finished with 181 total yards and two scores, most notably an impressive one-handed snag of an 81-yard touchdown pass from Myers. He also had a crucial interception just before halftime that halted another Russellville score.
Turnovers also played a big part. While two forced fumbles from Russellville kept the Cyclones around, the Eagles ended plus-3 in turnover margin, with two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a muffed punt recovery with a matter of minutes left in the game.
"Our kids played hard, and they're out there ... playing as hard as it can, and it's just one mistake and then another," Russellville Coach David Wheeler said. "It becomes that snowball effect type thing.
"The moment got bigger than we were and [it] got away from us."
For the Cyclones, quarterback Gavin Graham finished with 129 yards passing and two touchdown passes. Damon Donoho had Russellville's best rushing performance, totaling 47 rushing yards.
Another big performer for the Cyclones was Ben Haulmark. The sophomore did it all with touchdowns receiving, rushing and throwing. He also had three punts downed inside the 5-yard line. Haulmark also threw an interception and fumbled late in the game.
"He's learning, and he's playing a couple different positions, doing stuff he's never done before," Wheeler said.