Nighthawks host Soap Lake for homecoming at Rosalia

North County alumni will come together on the Rosalia gridiron Friday night as Tekoa, Oakesdale and Rosalia mark homecoming against visiting Soap Lake.

Nighthawk Coach Ken Lindgren said the Eagles will bring in a young team that should come at the TOR squad with a lot of energy.

“Those kids are going to come in prepared, that’s for sure,” he said.

Soap Lake is coached by Joe Wersham, who led Pateros to a string of championship game appearances in the early-to mid-1990s.

“He’s a heck of a coach,” said Lindgren.

The homecoming tilt comes off a fireworks-laden 22-19 loss to perennial SE-2B powerhouse Asotin last Friday night at Tekoa.

“It was a good game. We did some things. We executed some plays. But in the end we lost, so how good a game was it?” said Lindgren.

Though the game counts as a league loss, so far the only league tile on the books for the SE elevens.

Nighthawk coaches were encouraged by the showing.

“We’re kind of excited about it,” said Lindgren. “If we can play that well against them, we should do alright in league, because they’re usually one of the top teams in the state.”

The game was dominated by big plays from both sides, with four of the games six scores coming from more than 40 yards out.

Nighthawk quarterback Scott Eberle had a hand in two of those big plays. In the second quarter, he broke free on a busted pass play, dodged Panther tacklers and jitterbugged 48 yards for the touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he found wideout Flash Hodges on a 51-yard scoring strike.

Eberle finished the game 11-23 for 166 yards and two scores. He also ran the ball nine times for 46 yards.

It was a breakout game of sorts for Eberle, who played in just his third game at quarterback.

Eberle and the TOR receiving corps struggled to put together chemistry in their first two games, but Lindgren said they finally began to click Friday night.

Lindgren credited his offensive and defensive lines for letting Eberle and the ‘hawk offense move the ball.

“We saw a lot of really good improvement in our line play,” he said. “They really came together against a big, tough opponent.”

Earl Gaines helped TOR control the clock with his groundwork, logging 58 yards on 19 carries. Gaines yardage total was cut down because he fell on two botched shotgun snaps behind the line of scrimmage.

Levi Forsberg did most of Asotin’s damage. He logged a 44-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and iced the game by breaking free on a pass from QB Ben Servatius for a 74-yard score.

Correction: Because of a misreading of his number, the runner depicted in last week’s photo of the Nighthawk offense against Liberty was incorrectly identified. He was Earl Gaines.