varsity.roanoke.com

ELLISON -- By helping Auburn win back the Golden Helmet, Tyler Wood got to keep "Mr. Funky."

Wood caught two touchdown passes from Luke Watson, and each player also ran for a TD to help the Eagles beat back yard rival Eastern Montgomery 27-13 on Friday.

The visiting Eagles (5-1, 1-0 Three Rivers District) won the Golden Helmet plaque, which goes to the winner of this meeting, for the third time in five years.

They celebrated by dousing two of their coaches with water.

"It's a big win. It's a big rivalry," said Watson, a sophomore who threw TD passes of 34 and 12 yards. "Tyler Wood had two tremendous catches."

Wood didn't just give Auburn a boost at receiver. As a strong safety, the junior made a crucial fumble recovery and recorded a few sacks. He was awarded "Mr. Funky," a blue sledgehammer which goes to the team's hardest-working defensive player, for the second straight game.

"I was really hyped," Wood said. "There's been a bunch of talk about this game. ... We've been kind of going back and forth with each other."

Down 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, the Eagles shut out the Mustangs (4-2, 0-1) the rest of the way.

EastMont turned the ball over three times, including two deep in the red zone.

"We turned the ball over way too much. We handed it to them," said Mustangs quarterback Jeremy Smith, who scored on a 65-yard run.

"Their defense came ready to play.

"We're better than we played tonight."

Watson, a sophomore, completed 5 of 10 passes for 110 yards with one interception.

Wood had three catches for 80 yards and also ran for 74 yards on nine carries.

With EastMont up 13-7 and threatening to extend its lead, Wood recovered a Chad Raines fumble at the Auburn 3 early in the second quarter. Steven Welch knocked the ball loose.

"That was huge," Auburn coach Phil Collett said.

Watson found Wood wide open in the left side of the end zone on a tipped, 12-yard TD pass to give Auburn a 14-13 lead with 47.4 seconds left in the second quarter.

Wood broke a tackle and sprinted down the left sideline on a 35-yard TD run to extend the lead to 20-13 with 9:23 left in the third quarter. EastMont defensive lineman Justin Fisher suffered an apparent hyperextended knee on the play and left the game.

EastMont's Henry Hall fumbled the kickoff return. He suffered an apparent concussion on the play and also left the game.

Two Auburn series later, Watson scored on a 5-yard run to extend the lead to 27-13 with 3:52 left in the third.

"I thought I fumbled," Watson said with a smile.

Smith threw a short, tipped pass that was intercepted by Tim McCoy at the Auburn 10 to ruin an EastMont drive late in the third quarter.

Auburn 7 7 13 0--27

Eastern Montgomery 13 0 0 0--13

EM -- Smith 65 run (Mendoza kick)

A -- Wood 34 pass from Watson (Limon kick)

EM -- Raines 4 run (kick failed)

A -- Wood 12 pass from Watson (Limon kick)

A -- Wood 35 run (kick failed)

A -- Watson 5 run (Limon kick)

AU EM

First downs 14 9

Yards rushing 193 232

Passes C-A-I 5-10-1 2-6-1

Yards passing 110 12

Penalties-yards 7-52 5-45

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2

Punts-average 3-30 3-33

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Auburn, Wood 9-74, Ramsey 20-72, Watson 7-30, Underwood 5-17. Eastern Montgomery, Smith 10-103, Byrd 9-60, Raimes 17-58, Christian 1-11.

PASSING -- Auburn, Watson 5-10-1-110, Eastern Montgomery, Smith 2-6-1-12.

RECEIVING -- Auburn, Wood 3-80, Ramsey 1-17, Abate 1-13. Eastern Montgomery, Christian 2-12.