WEED – The College of the Siskiyous Eagles scored two touchdowns in the last 2:10 of the game in an attempt to stage a miracle comeback against the Shasta Knights—a comeback that fell one onside kick recovery short. Despite the late fireworks, the Eagles dropped their third straight game.

Eagle QB Aqura Brown threw two TD passes, one each to Darius Davis and Anthony Young. Raymond Neal rushed for two TDs.

The Knights pooched their opening kick off, and COS inexplicably watched the ball bounce around its own 30-yard-line. Shasta recovered and moved the ball to the Eagle 5-yard-line, where the COS defense stiffened and forced Shasta to settle for a field goal.

On their second possession, the Knights moved the ball from their own 49 to the COS 17. The Eagle defense came up with another stop when Steven Butrick recovered a fumble.

The Eagles took over on their own 15. Eagle quarterback Aqura Brown and Darius Davis hooked up three times for 51 yards of an 85-yard drive scoring drive, capped off by a 13-yard TD run by Raymond Neal. Brown picked up the 2-point conversion on a keeper, giving COS an 8-3 lead, with 2:41 left in the first quarter.

Less than three minutes later, Shasta regained the lead going 51 yards, and scoring on a 17-yard run seven seconds into the second quarter. The PAT failed, leaving Shasta with a 9-8 lead.

Shasta struck again on a controversial play with just under five minutes left in the half. The Knights scored on a 19-yard run, but the Knight runner’s knee appeared to be clearly on the ground around the 15-yard-line. The officials ruled otherwise, and the touchdown stood. The conversion failed, but Shasta increased its lead to 15-8.

With 1:14 left in the first half, COS faced a fourth-and-13 on its own 45. The Eagles attempted to pass off a fake punt and failed, turning the ball over to Shasta.

A minute and 10 seconds later, the Knights scored a TD and added a PAT, to make the score 22-8 at the half.

Shasta added another TD on a 16-yard pass play midway through the third quarter. COS blocked the PAT, and Shasta led 28-8.

It took the Eagles just three plays to answer, when Neal bolted 41 yards to pay dirt. COS tried for a 2-pointer off a fake PAT, but could not convert. With the score, Shasta’s lead was cut to 28-14.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Knights marched right down the field to score on their next possession. With the PAT, Shasta led 35-14 at the end of three quarters.

Midway through the fourth quarter, COS took possession on its 39, following a Knight punt. COS advanced to the Shasta 27, but a series of penalties moved the Eagles back to the 41. Facing a third-and-24, Brown flipped a pass to Anthony Young, who started left, reversed field, picked up a thundering block, and went 41 yards for a TD. The Eagle PAT made the score 35-21, with 2:10 remaining in the game.

Eagle Kevin Ramos recovered an onside kick, to give COS the ball back on its 45. Brown hit Davis for an 8-yard TD, with 53 seconds remaining. The PAT failed, but the Eagles had cut the lead to a single touchdown and 2-point conversion, at 35-27.

Shasta’s only loss this season came on a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the game against Sacramento, and the Eagle faithful were looking for a bit of déjà vu.

COS attempted an onside kick, but Shasta was able to recover the kick, and then ran out the clock.

The Eagles (1-3) will travel to Oakland to take on Laney on Friday, October 3.