The most integral part of Friday’s rivalry showdown between Crater and Eagle Point may have been the halftime break.

Prior to that, Comets head coach Seth Womack hardly recognized his team on the field after a host of miscues and unconventional moments led to a 14-all tie with an Eagles team that failed to score during last week’s season opener.

Following that break, however, Crater came out and put it in high gear for the final 24 minutes, outscoring Eagle Point 35-0 in the second half to secure a 49-14 in the Midwestern League opener for both teams at Dutch Meyer Field.

“We came out from halftime and actually played,” said Womack. “We made some stupid mistakes in the first half that kept us out of the game and kept them in it. Realistically, I felt like going into halftime it should’ve been 28-0 and it just wasn’t.”

Eagle Point’s fly sweep offense with twists at every turn kept the Comets from getting into much of a defensive rhythm, with Peyton Smith scoring the first touchdown of the game on a 21-yard run to complement efforts by Easton Raber and Mason DeVry.

Crater (2-0, 1-0 MWL) answered when senior quarterback Ben Higginson slashed through the defense for a 55-yard score in the first quarter, then took the lead following a defensive lapse by the Eagles in the early going of the second quarter.

After the Comets forced a punt, Crater lined up with no cornerback covering Jaxson Godley on the near sideline. Eagle Point sophomore Pierce Brown was a late addition to the field but could not get across the way before Higginson snapped the ball and sent a little dart to Godley, who raced untouched for a 68-yard TD.

Crater appeared destined to start pulling away later in the quarter but Eagle Point junior Adrian Asker had other plans as he pried the ball away from sophomore running back Jose Rodriguez, who had run into a wall of defenders following a handoff. Asker then ran without pursuit for a 70-yard score to help the Eagles (0-2, 0-1) tie the contest at 14-all.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a running back lose a football in a scrum like that and then the defensive lineman take it 70 yards for a touchdown,” said Womack. “Even with their first score, we should’ve had a scoop and score but we didn’t and they ended up scoring on that drive.”

Given the ability to settle things down at halftime, the Comets came out with a renewed purpose and used TD runs by Valentin Rodriguez (9 yards) and Higginson (40 yards) to break the game open in the third quarter.

“I think our kids needed that motivation at halftime to kind of regroup,” said Womack. “They knew that they should be winning that game and we came out a different group in that third quarter.”

Terrius Allen added a 47-yard interception return for a score in the fourth quarter, followed by TD runs from Kyle Petty (29 yards) and Reagan Gowen (4 yards).

In contrast, Eagle Point’s offense stalled in the second half without the services of Raber and Smith playing dinged-up after each suffered setbacks midway through the first half.

Smith finished with a career-high 111 yards rushing on 22 carries with one TD, while Skylar Tribur had two catches for 43 yards. Raber had a big gain negated by penalty in the first quarter.

“They run that fly sweep offense and they were doing some unbalanced stuff and our defensive coaches did a fantastic job of making the adjustments that they needed to in order to combat that and we were able to shut them down in the second half,” said Womack.

Brayden Singery played a pivotal role for Crater’s defensive effort with seven tackles.

“He plays sideline to sideline and he’s just seeing it really well,” said Womack of the junior. “He’s reading his keys and he’s doing the things he needs to do. As inside linebackers go, he is just fantastic.”

Higginson completed 6 of 12 passes for 88 yards and a score and also ran 10 times for 132 yards and two TDs. A week after running 31 times for 158 yards, Valentin Rodriguez was dealt a little lighter load and totaled 99 yards on 19 carries.

The Eagles ran for 116 yards and saw DeVry pass for 69 more as they were outgained 390-185 in total yards.

Eagle Point 7 7 0 0 — 14

Crater 7 7 14 21 — 49

EP — Smith 21 run (Garcia kick)

C — Higginson 55 run (Warner kick)

C — Godley 68 pass from Higginson (Warner kick)

EP — Asker 70 fumble return (Garcia kick)

C — V. Rodgriguez 9 run (Warner kick)

C — Higginson 40 run (Warner kick)

C — Allen 47 interception return (kick failed)

C — Petty 29 run (Higginson run)

C — Gowen 4 run (Warner kick)