WAURIKA — Waurika’s defense caused Empire’s rushing attack to go from a scream to a whisper Friday, and it’s offense picked up the aggressive theme, as the Eagles came back from two early deficits in a 26-18 victory over the Bulldogs.

Continuing a late-season turnaround from a 1-5 start, Waurika won its third straight game by muffling Empire standout back Chance Bridges and unleashing its own effective running game. Celebrating Senior Night at Cy Sloan Stadium, veteran Matt Wilkerson rushed for a season-high 129 yards, Jimmy Torrez and Levi Henderson each ran for two touchdowns as the Eagles rose to 4-5 overall and 4-4 in District A-4.

Coming back from a 6-0 deficit in the first quarter and a stunning start to the second half, the Eagles scored three straight touchdowns that sent the Bulldogs (3-6, 3-5) reeling, and gave head coach Larry VanBeber a first win over the club he was coaching at this time last season.

Bridges, the area’s leading rusher with 1,002 yards coming into the game, was limited to four yards on 12 carries. Without a 69-yard touchdown run by quarterback Shashonee Sales that opened the third quarter, EHS managed just 26 yards on 24 other carries.

“Whooo, baby! That’s not a bad night for our defense! Our kids were very physical, and I’m particularly happy with the defense — they played very well,” VanBeber said. “I’ve still got a lot of good feelings for those Empire kids, and I’m pretty surprised we were able to hold Chance to four yards.

“I think a lot of Chance, and he’s a good back, but he was the ‘star’ of our films all week and our kids made up their minds to make somebody else beat us.”

Coming out of halftime intermission with Waurika clinging to a 7-6 lead, it appeared senior quarterback Sales might be the Empire player to do so. After returning a kickoff 20 yards to the EHS 31-yard line, on the first play of the third quarter, Sales came around right end on a bootleg reverse and zipped past the Eagles on a 69-yard scoring sprint

Although a two-point conversion pass by Sales fell incomplete, just 19 seconds into the second half, Empire had a 12-7 lead.

However, Waurika answered — in a big way:

An 11-play, 60-yard drive capped on a 1-yard run by fullback Henderson, whose extra-point kick put the Eagles in front, 14-12.

Another 11-play drive, this one covering 56 yards, ended on a 3-yard run by Torrez, who finished with 72 yards on 17 carries.

With the Eagles leading, 20-12, Cameron Bloodworth intercepted a pass by Empire backup quarterback Dakota Davenport and returned it 31 yards to the Bulldogs 17. Three plays later, Henderson, who finished with 68 yards on 17 carries, scored a 3-yard TD that made it 26-12, with 9:52 left in the game.

The ’Dogs did finally find a way to move the ball. During a nine-play, 55-yard drive, Sales completed passes of 15 yards to Trevor Ford and 20 yards to Patrick Ford. Bridges then contributed with 5:37 left, when he pulled in a pass from Sales and scored a 17-yard TD that narrowed Waurika’s lead to 26-18.

When an Eagles possession stalled at the 50-yard line, with 2:33 to go, the ’Dogs had a final chance. Sales completed a 13-yard pass to Patrick Ford that gave EHS a first down at its own 44, but when the junior tried to connect with Tyler Carney, Nathan Howard’s interception sealed the deal for Waurika.

Sales had a hand in 155 of Empire’s final 166 yards of total offense. He finished with 81 yards on 5 carries and completed 5 of 7 passes for 70 yards.

In a first-half marked by three turnovers by the Eagles and Empire’s inability to move the ball on the ground, the Bulldogs’ defense drew first blood. On Waurika’s second possession, Hall overthrew a pass across the middle that Davenport swiped, and his 40-yard interception return gave EHS a 6-0 lead, with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter.

Hall’s second pass of the game was also intercepted by Davenport, and the ’Dogs tried to gather some momentum. However, a fourth-and-14 pass by Davenport was broken up by Bloodworth, setting up Waurika’s first rally.

An 11-play drive covering 67 yards came to a close with 53 seconds left in the initial stanza, when Torrez, who finished with 72 yards on 17 carries, scored on a 12-yard run.

Henderson’s extra-point kick gave WHS a 7-6 lead and the remainder of the first half turned into a standoff.

“Our guys up front on offense said Waurika’s guys were too strong for them,” EHS skipper Keith Burton said, about the Bulldogs’ rushing problems. “Chance didn’t have a good game at all, but you’ve got to give Waurika credit — they did a good job shutting him down.

“We got a couple of turnovers early that we didn’t cash in on, but that’s been a problem all season; we get chances to get a little separation (in the score), but we don’t get it done.”