Kapalo's 3 TD's lead Eagles to Win

SOAP LAKE - In their home opener against LaCrosse-Washtucna, the Eagles of Soap Lake kept their momentum from week one going by jumping out to an early lead yet again. The Tigercats scored first on a 10 yard run and converted the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0 early in the first quarter of play. The Eagles wasted no time responding as senior team captain David Odarchuk, coming off a huge performance in the season opener, broke a 50 yard touchdown run to put Soap Lake on the board. On the Eagles next offensive possession quarterback Joe Cutshall connected with Nic Kapalo for a 4 yard touchdown pass and the two hooked up again for the two point conversion.

"Last year we were kind of a one dimensional team, whereas this year we have multiple dimensions on offense and can spread the ball around and it makes us a much stronger team." said coach Joe Worsham.

Soap Lake's defense also came up big after allowing the game's first touchdown they shutout the Washtucna offense for the remainder of the half. Again, keeping pressure on the quarterback was instrumental for the Eagles defense and allowed the pass defense to be effective limiting what the Tigercats could do through the air. Special teams got into the scoring act as well for Soap Lake when senior Dustin Foster returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown. Following the Eagles offensive outburst, they led at halftime by a score of 28-8.

"They had an option play that hurt us early and we talked about it at halftime and adjusted. We know we will see options and screens throughout the season, so we need to prepare and be ready for different looks." Worsham said.

The second half started with a bang as Nic Kapalo took the opening kickoff 90 yards for the score. The Eagles began the third quarter the same way they ended the second quarter, executing an explosive special teams play for a touchdown. Kapalo wasn't done yet, as Soap Lake continued their passing prominence Joe Cutshall threw a 25 yard strike to Kapalo for his third touchdown of the contest.

"We scored three times real quick to start the second half and really put the game out of reach at that point. We played a lot of young guys in the last two quarters and they played well, especially on defense only giving up the six points." Worhsam said.

Soap Lake would tack on another score before the end of the third period, making the score 48-8 going into the final quarter. LaCrosse-Washtucna would score one more time in the fourth, but it wouldn't be enough to catch the streaking Eagles. The Eagles were extremely efficient, completing 8-10 passes for 207 yards and rushing 13 times for 205 yards. It was a huge night for Nic Kapalo and Joe Cutshall on offense, while both team captains Dustin Foster and David Odarchuck also added big scoring plays. Soap Lake improved to 2-0 after the 48-14 victory in front of their home fans.

The Eagles have been the surprise team of the Basin thus far with big offensive performances in both of their first two games and consistent production on the defensive side of the ball. It's safe to say their 2-0 start in dominating fashion has fans and pundits alike doing a double take as we head to into week three. Their next matchup with Columbia-Inchelium all the sudden has big time implications as both teams are 2-0 and both team's offenses have been forces to be reckon with thus far. Columbia beat ACH on the final play of the game in week one and have over 100 points scored through the first two weeks of the season. This Friday will be a true test for the Eagles and their post-season hopes.

"We know they can score a lot of points and we need to be better defensively. We need to make stops on third down and we can't give up the big play. If we make them work to get their points and not give up a big run or big pass, we know we can score points. We just need a lot of guys to contribute and we will be successful." Worsham said.