WAYNESVILLE — Eaton lost three critical areas of the game, and it cost the Eagles a chance at a division title.

Eaton committed three turnovers, allowed Waynesville to start its offense on the Eagles side of the field multiple times and allowed the Spartans to hit the big play.

All that resulted in Eaton suffering its second loss of the season, 42-15, on Friday, Oct. 18 at Waynesville.

With the loss, Eaton falls to 7-2 overall and 3-2 in the Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division. Waynesville improved to 7-2, but more importantly 5-0 in the SWBL.

Eaton needed to win Friday and have Waynesville beat Valley View in Week 10 to grab a share of the title.

“Really for us, the critical areas we knew we needed to win, one was field position, two was winning the takeaway turnover battle, and three were big plays and we lost all three of those critical areas and that’s how the score ends up against a team like this,” Eaton coach Brad Davis said.

Instead, the Eagles, which were limited to 153 total yards of offense, are now focused on wrapping up the regular season at home against Carlisle on Friday, Oct. 25 and then the postseason.

Eaton scored on its opening possession for a 6-0 lead with 7:03 left in the first quarter and still held a slim 12-7 lead just past the midway mark of the second quarter.

That’s when the game got away from the Eagles.

Waynesville scored with 5:14 left in the second quarter. After Eaton threw an interception, the Spartans struck quickly talking 21-12 lead with 2:23 left in the half.

Another Eaton turnover turned in more Spartan points as the host team scored with 42 seconds left in the half to take a 28-12 lead.

Eaton opened the second half with a time-consuming drive that ended with a field goal to make it a 28-15 game.

Waynesville extended its lead to 35-15 with 7:24 left in the game and after another Eagle turnover scored again at the 5:53 mark for a 42-15 lead.

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.