FREEPORT – For Eastland-Pearl City senior Wyatt Baber, it’s good to be the king, in more ways than one.

On a night he was crowned Homecoming king, he turned in the tide-turning play to propel EPC to a 30-13 victory against Amboy-LaMoille on Friday night in Freeport.

The Wildcatz (1-1) trailed 13-8 at halftime, but it took exactly 12 seconds to shift the momentum. Fielding the second-half kickoff at his own 17, the speedy Baber went virtually untouched up the middle for an 83-yard score. He was caught at the goal line by the Clippers’ Trevor Vaessen, but was awarded the TD.

When Logan Krell tacked on a 2-point conversion run, EPC was up 16-13 and didn’t trail again.

“We went to one of our onside recoveries and it bounced to me,” Baber said. “I picked it up and I saw everybody going. Krell yelled ‘Go,’ so I just got in between them all. I was running, they were running, and all of a sudden I was gone. I shouldn’t have slowed down there at the end. That was scary.”

Amboy-LaMoille coach Scott Payne looked at Baber’s kick return as the pivotal play.

“When they returned the opening kickoff in the second half for a touchdown, our kids put their heads down a little bit,” Payne said. “That was a big momentum shift for Eastland. That’s why special teams are so important, because of momentum shifts like that. We just could never bounce back after that.”

After an exchange of punts, Amboy-LaMoille (0-1) drove from its own 3 to the 33, where it faced a fourth and 1. Payne decided to go for it, but fullback Joe Quest was stuffed for no gain, setting up the Wildcatz in prime position.

Five plays later, Tyson Clark hauled in a 19-yard pass from Kellen Henze to put EPC up 24-13.

When Amboy-LaMoille got the ball back, Clark picked off a pass from Clippers quarterback Lane Boehle, and he took it 40 yards to the house and gave EPC a 30-13 lead, which ended up being the final score.

The Clippers got the best of it for much of the first half. Sean Fitzpatrick scored on a 4-yard run late in the first quarter to put his team up 7-0.

EPC responded with a 12-play, 72-yard march capped by a 2-yard plunge from Krell, who tacked on the first of three 2-point conversions to put the Wildcatz up 8-7.

Amboy-LaMoille struck back quickly with a 37-yard TD pass from Boehle to Vaessen to make it 13-8, and that’s where the score stood at halftime.

“We just weren’t executing,” EPC coach Jared McNutt said. “We had guys in the right spots on defense, and we just weren’t bringing it after we got smacked in the mouth a little bit. My hat goes off to Amboy in that first half. They were ready to go.”

Krell had 18 carries for 57 yards to pace the EPC offense.

Fitzpatrick had 22 carries for 76 yards for Amboy-LaMoille.

Football

Eastland Pearl City 30, Amboy-LaMoille 13

Star of the game: Wyatt Baber, EPC, 87-yard kickoff return

Key performers: Tyson Clark, EPC, 2 TDs (reception and interception); Sean Fitzpatrick, Amboy-LaMoille, 22 carries, 76 yards

Up next: Forreston at Amboy-LaMoille, 7 p.m. Friday; EPC at West Carroll (at Freeport), 2 p.m. April 3