As Pine Creek football players gathered around Trevor Hudson after the contest, a few athletes’ attention ventured from the Eagles coach to the commotion near midfield.

The Eagles lost 36-14 to Valor Christian and the road team took a moment to celebrate their victory before exiting District 20 Stadium on Friday night. While Valor Christian players cheered and applauded their win, Eagles players re-focused on their coach.

“Let it hurt,” the first-year Pine Creek coach told his players postgame. “You gotta eat that and you have to live in the mess you make.”

In the Zero Week season opener for both teams, Valor Christian (1-0) opened the game with a 9-0 lead after a 36-yard field goal with 7:10 left in the opening frame. Pine Creek’s Brady Walden capped the Eagles’ third drive with an 8-yard scamper to the end zone to cut the lead to 9-7 after the made extra point with 8.5 seconds left in the first.

Toward the end of the first, the rain drizzle that started midway through the opening period became a down pour that created a slick field and slippery ball. On its first possession of the second quarter, Pine Creek forced Valor Christian to punt from their own 34.

However, the ball slipped through the punter’s hands and bounced into the end zone where Malakai Harkley pounced on it to give the Eagles a 14-9 lead with 10:52 left in the half. After that, the Eagles went stagnant.

“We had some costly possessions where we couldn’t get a drive going,” Hudson said. “We had a botched punt that led to a touchdown. You can’t have those things happen against a team like this and expect to come out with a W. We have some work to do but we will get there.”

In their remaining nine possessions, the Eagles struggled to push the ball up field and, when Pine Creek managed to build momentum, a turnover on downs ended potential scoring drives.

For Valor Christian, after it trailed 14-9 early in the second quarter, their Eagles scored 27 more points. When asked if the rain played a role in Pine Creek’s struggles on offense, Hudson immediately shook his head.

“We’re not making excuses,” Hudson said. “(Valor Christian) played in the same rain we did. It’s more so that we have to do a better job of executing and finishing drives. We have to get a little more push up front and be able to run the football.”

While Walden managed to put the Eagles on the board in the first quarter, he shouldered the blame for a late-game pick-6 that gave Valor Christian a 34-14 lead with 1:51 remaining in the contest. Walden, a junior who had his first start at quarterback for the Eagles, said he can’t let any of Friday’s tilt carry into next week when the Eagles face Cherokee Trail.

“I know that I could have done a bit better out there,” Walden said. “But I think we’re going to come out stronger next week and I know that I can come out stronger next week to get that W.”