Someone was going to come out of Thursday night’s football matchup between Eagle Point and South Eugene with their first triumph, and Eagles senior Peyton Smith made sure it was his team behind a strong showing in Eugene.

The Midwestern League teams entered the game winless in a combined nine games but Eagle Point used a second-half scoring surge to turn the tables and secure a 16-8 road triumph.

“It was a tale of two halves, really,” said Eagles head coach Erik Johnson.

The Axe used a late touchdown and two-point conversion to carry an 8-0 lead into halftime, but the final half belonged to Eagle Point (1-5, 1-4 MWL).

The Eagles got the comeback going with a safety after Trenton Shelton recovered a bad snap by South Eugene (0-5, 0-4) in the end zone, then saw Smith post a pair of touchdown runs to go with two extra-point kicks by Tavi Garcia to seal the rally.

Johnson figured Smith’s first scoring run to be around 20 yards, with the second coming at about twice that distance for the go-ahead score.

“It was obvious that Peyton took over the game,” said Johnson. “He had a bunch of big rushes before the touchdown. In the first half we couldn’t get anything but, basically, he just put the team on his shoulders. He played a great second half. The (offensive) line deserves the credit, for sure, but he was fighting for every yard.”

Smith finished with 193 yards on 29 carries for the Eagles, who had their highest scoring output of the season after previously being tagged with three shutouts.

Mason DeVry completed 11 of 20 passes for 91 yards, with Smith catching four passes for 50 yards and Skylar Tribur making five catches for 40 yards.

“Getting that first win was really nice,” said Johnson. “There was a ton of adversity and our guys fought through it and that was definitely the difference, we fought through it and they didn’t.”

Whiatt Deutschman helped anchor a defensive effort that kept the Axe off the scoreboard in the second half, with Landon Myre making five tackles.

Boys Soccer

SOUTH MEDFORD 2, SHELDON 2: At Eugene, South Medford answered a second-half penalty kick by Sheldon with one of its own by Alexis Reyes in the 76th minute to create a tie in Southwest Conference play.

Sheldon opened the scoring in the seventh minute but the Panthers roared right back with an equalizer moments later after Trent Florey drove a pass to Steven Calvillo, who collected the ball and dribbled around the goalkeeper for an open-net goal.

Sheldon scored on a penalty kick in the 55th minute but Calvillo was fouled in the box to set up Reyes’ tying effort near the end of the match.

PHOENIX 1, KLAMATH UNION 0: At Klamath Falls, Hector Ramos connected with Khaile Borland in the 75th minute on a free kick for the decisive goal in the Skyline Conference match.

The Pirates (5-1-2, 2-1 Skyline) produced their second straight shutout and fifth overall with another strong defensive effort, goalkeeper David Reyes securing the clean sheet with a couple stellar saves.

Girls Soccer

SHELDON 3, SOUTH MEDFORD 1: Avery Zahniser connected from 25 yards out to score the opening goal for South Medford off a setup by Phoena Riddle in the eighth minute but Sheldon responded with three unanswered goals to remain unbeaten in league play.

Lexi Cockerill-Gonzalez scored on a breakaway in the 44th minute to break a 1-all tie in the second half for the Irish (9-0-1, 7-0 SWC).

The host Panthers dropped to 2-6-2 overall and 0-5-2 in SWC play.