ARENAC EASTERN - Sep. 11, 2009 - One first-half play rarely decides a football game.

But if there was a single moment at which Friday's annual Eagles vs. Eagles brawl for the ageless Jug turned, it came late in the first half.

Arenac Eastern was looking to build on its 14-13 lead over Hale in the final minutes of the first half. Caleb Whitney broke several tackles and burst through the line for a 15-yard touchdown run that apparently gave AE a seven-point lead.

Not only was the touchdown erased by a holding call, but Whitney was injured on the play. Eastern was unable to score, and moments later Hale's Eddy Cadwell gave his team the lead for good with a 91-yard scoring run with 3:45 left in the half.

AE never recovered, and Hale held on for a 25-14 victory, retaining possession of the Jug for the fourth straight year.

"As a coach you'll take a win any way you can," said Hale coach Bill Lake. "But you don't want to see kids get hurt. They had some key injuries, and so did we.

"These kids had never been in a 'real' jug game. Last year we won by 40 points, which hardly ever happens in this game. So they didn't know what it was really like. I think the kids looked past Arenac a bit, and they really brought it to us."

With Whitney and the also-injured Joe Kramer shuffling in and out of the lineup, Eastern didn't quit. But neither could AE score again, though it came close late in the fourth quarter.

"If we don't get that call, well, that's a hell of a momentum swing," said AE coach Mark Machulis. "But you don't win or lose games on official's calls. We had three more plays after that and didn't score.

"The injuries hurt more, especially when you only have two freshmen on the sideline to sub in."

After a first half that included just one punt and ended with Hale up 19-14, the defenses dug in after the break. Hale outgained AE just 96-94 in the second half, but got the one play it needed -- a 24-yard Kevin Rehil run late in the third quarter that gave his team some insurance.

Unfortunately Rehil, like Whitney, was injured at the end of the play. Unlike Whitney, he didn't return to the game.

Eastern's best chance to get back in it came with four minutes to play after Graham Morgan's 4th-and-11 pass was tipped by Hale's Christian Mudry -- and hauled in by AE's Sam Phelan for a 22-yard gain and a first down at the Hale 12.

That was as close as AE could get.

"I'm very pleased we didn't roll over," Machulis said. "When Caleb is out, there's no mystery about our offense. We're still adjusting to losing (injured Kyle) Zobel, who was the fastest kid on the team. The big thing with us was to stay healthy, and we haven't.

"Hale played tough, though, and took advantage of what was there."

That proved especially true on Cadwell's 91-yard sprint right up the middle.

"We thought (that play) would be there, because they'd adjusted to our off-tackle runs," Lake said. "The only question I had was if Eddy could outrun them all the way, but he's in a lot better shape than last year. He hit that hole and just took off."

Cadwell's run capped a first half in which neither team could stop the other. Morgan had touchdown runs of one and 14 yards to cap a pair of long Eastern drives that totaled 18 plays and 136 yards.

Hale countered with drives of 11 plays, 50 yards and four plays, 49 yards. Christian Moody's 3-yard run ended Hale's first possession and Rehil's five yard run cut a seven-point AE lead to 14-13.

Cadwell finished with 152 yards on 11 carries and Rehil added 92 yards on 14 carries.

For AE (1-2, 0-2 North Star League), Whitney had 151 yards on 21 carries -- 95 in the first half before his injury -- and Morgan had 95 yards on 28 carries.

Hale (1-2, 1-0) hosts Atlanta in its home opener Sep. 18 with a cloud of uncertainty over its offense.

"In the second half we played like we can," Lake said. "But if Kevin doesn't get hurt there's no telling what we might have done. It's a real killer if he's out for awhile."