Eagles suffer last second loss to Wildcats

SOAP LAKE - It wasn't the way it was supposed to end. At least that's what the Soap Lake faithful were thinking.

After all it was a home game and senior night for the Eagles. But typical of an 8-man football game, it all came down to the final seconds before the contest was decided.

Soap Lake and Wilbur-Creston had battled to a 32-32 tie after 47 minutes and 48 seconds of hard-fought football had elapsed Friday night.

But the Wildcats were able to score in the last 12 second of the game to come away with a 39-32 road win over the Eagles and send the home crowd away wondering what might have been?

"That was a heck of a ball game," Eagles coach Joe Worsham said. "Our kids played their hearts out. Unfortunately, we let them convert too many third and long situations and couldn't get a stop when we needed to. It was frustrating for all of us."

Wilbur-Creston took possession of the ball on the Wildcat 20 following a touchback on the kickoff by Soap Lake.

But the Eagles defense forced the Wildcats to go three and out and punt the ball. A short lick into a stiff wind gave Soap Lake a short field as they started the teams' first drive on the Wilbur-Creston 30.

Two plays later Dustin Foster hit pay dirt from 24-yards out (run failed) to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead.

The Wildcats answered back with an 84-yard drive for a touchdown (run good on their first possession of the game to go up 8-6.

The Eagles David Ordarchuk returned the ensuing kickoff to the Soap Lake 35.

Two pass from Joe Cutshall to Jason Korneychuk moved the ball to the Wildcat 32. Cutshall hooked up with Nic Kapolo for a 20-yard TD (pass failed) four plays later to retake the lead 12-8, Soap Lake.

The score held up through the end of the first quarter.

A 56-yard Eagle punt for a touchback to start the second quarter gave the ball to the Wildcats on the Wilbur-Creston 20. The Wildcats pushed the ball to the Soap Lake 1-yard line, but failed to score on fourth and goal.

The Eagles took over on downs at the Soap Lake 5-yard line with six minutes left to go in the half. A screen pass from Cutshall to Ordarchuk moved the pigskin to the Eagle 45.

But a Cutshall sack and incomplete pass on f,ourth down turned the ball over to Wilbur-Creston with three and a half minutes on the clock.

The Wildcats drove 45 yards in a minute and 26 seconds to put six points on the board (run failed) to go back up top, 14-12 and end the first half scoring.

A 61-yard pitch and catch from Cutshall to Neo Galicia, and a gutsy 2-point conversion run by Foster gave the Eagles a 20-14 lead to start the third quarter action.

Wilbur-Creston returned the Soap Lake kick to the Eagle 37 and advanced the rock to the 3-yard line.

It looked as though the Soap Lake defense held on a fourth and goal. But a dead ball false start backed the ball to the 8 and gave the Wildcats another shot.

Again the defense made a big stop, but was whistled for pass interference to give Wilbur-Creston a first down at the Soap Lake 1-yard line.

The Wildcats punched it in one play later (run failed) to tie the game 20-20 with a little more than seven minutes left in the third quarter.

The Eagles started their next drive on their own 41, but failed to move the ball and had to punt. Wilbur-Creston took over at the Wildcat 11 and drove 89 yards for a score, capped off by a 5-yard run (run failed) to take a 26-20 lead.

Soap Lake started its drive on the Eagle 35 following a kick out of bounds by Wilbur-Creston.

A fumble by Ordarchuk and recovery by the Wildcats gave Wilbur-Creston possession at the Eagle 40. Two plays later, the Wildcats punched it in from 5-yards out (run failed) to increase their lead to 32-20 with 1:44 left in the quarter.

Ordarchuk returned the Wilbur-Creston kick to the Wildcat 46, but was unable to get a first down and the Eagles had to punt as time expired. The Wildcats took over on their 17, but went three and out and punted the ball back to the Eagles.

A short kick into the wind gave Soap Lake a short field at the Wilbur-Creston 46. On second and 10 yards to gain, Cutshall dumped the ball off the Korneychuk on a middle screen and he rambled the distance for the score (pass failed) to close the gap to 32-26 with 10 minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats were unable to move the ball on their next possession and had to punt. Soap Lake took over on the Wilbur-Creston 46. A touchdown pass from Cutshall to Korneychuk drew a roar from the home crowd as the Eagles appeared to tie the game. But a block in the back penalty on the run nullified the score and placed the ball at the Wildcat 18.

One play later, Cutshall hooked up with Korneychuk (run failed) to tie the score 32-32 with just under seven minutes to play.

"I was a bit concerned when we were down by two scores," Worsham said. "So we pulled a couple of new plays out of our hat and were able to comeback and tie the game."

Soap Lake's defense forced the Wildcats to a third and 10 yards to gain for a first down on Wilbur-Creston's next possession. But a 15 yard gain kept the drive alive. Eagle pressure on the Wilbur-Creston QB forced a bad throw that was intercepted by Korneychuk at the Soap Lake 18 with two minutes left in the game.

The Eagles were driving for the go ahead score, but failed to convert on third and 20 and had to punt the ball. A short kick gave the Wildcats possession at the Soap Lake 40 with 1:21 on the clock. The Eagles looked as though they had stopped a last second Wilbur-Creston scoring threat and would send the game into overtime, But a pass interference and two unsportsmanlike penalties on Foster put the ball on the Eagle 3-yard line with 12 seconds left in the game. One play later the Wildcats hit pay dirt (run good) to go up 40-32.

Foster was ejected from the contest, and will be suspended for the last game of the season.

"He was called for face guarding on the pass interference play," Worsham said. "I guess he said something to the ref about it and he was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. I was told he continued to question the ref, and then he was whistled for a second unsportsmanlike call. Three penalties on the same play ... hard to believe. The unfortunate part of it all is the officials decided the outcome of the game."

Soap Lake nearly pulled off the impossible, coming oh so close to tying the game and sending into overtime as the Eagles received the ensuing kick and drove to the Wilbur-Creston 5-yard line. But time expired before they reached the end zone.

The loss to Wilbur-Creston drops Soap Lake to 1-4 in league play. The Eagles are back in action Friday when Soap Lake travels to Odessa to take on the Tigers in the last game of the season.