Eagles beat Redhawks on Senior Night

ST. JOHN – Wyatt Schwartz, Tanner Fleming, Dylan Berg and Brennen Gonzalez were among seniors honored for the St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse Eagles on Senior Night before a game against the Touchet Redhawks on Oct. 28.

In what was the last home game for the aforementioned players, the Eagles were able to come out with the win – defeating the Redhawks 63-20.

"I honestly couldn't be more proud at what these guys have been able to accomplish," St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse coach John Hergert. "The middle of the season, we went on a loss, then a loss, then we went to Yakama Nation and we got a win there – a long-trip win, then came back home to LaCrosse and lost again. That's a tough thing to overcome for any team and to bounce back this week like we did against Touchet, because Touchet is no slouch, I couldn't be any more prouder of these boys, I really couldn't."

St. John didn't waste any time getting points on the board, blocking a Touchet punt on the first play of the game that was recovered by freshman Tyler Hough. Gonzalez scored on the Eagles' ensuing possession after the recovery and junior quarterback Matthew DeFord kept the ball and ran it in for the 2-point conversion to go up 8-0 early in the first quarter.

Touchet was kept off the board for the rest of the quarter while St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse added another score, with running back/wide receiver/quarterback Fleming running the ball in for six. Running back/defensive lineman Landen Miller put up another two points on the ground on the following conversion to put the Eagles up over the Redhawks 16-0.

Touchet found itself in a 1st & goal situation early in the second quarter following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on SJEL, and capitalized on it with a touchdown run by junior running back Korbin Salmon and two more points via a pass from sophomore quarterback Owen Godinez to sophomore receiver Thad Krumbah.

Fleming added his second rushing touchdown of the day from the redzone after a long pass completion to freshman running back/quarterback Bear Brewer. Gonzalez added another two points on the ground and SJEL went up 24-8 with 9:18 to go in the first half.

Touchet ended up responding with a score but the Eagles answered right back with another completion between Fleming and Brewer, this time for a touchdown. Miller added another two points from the ground and the game went into halftime with SJEL holding a 32-14 lead over the Redhawks.

The success of both Fleming and DeFord under center has been a key for the Eagles in recent weeks. DeFord was injured earlier in the season in a game against Garfield-Palouse on Sept. 23. Fleming got the reps under center in his absence.

Since DeFord's return, he and Fleming have been splitting reps at quarterback, both occasionally lined up next to each other to confuse the opposing defense as to who is getting the ball. The return of Brewer from his own injury has opened up the offense at a critical time for SJEL, who hope to make a final push to the state playoffs as they head to Pomeroy on Nov. 4.

"We're firing on all cylinders. We're back to where we were at the start of the season," Hergert said. "I think that's really important. I think we've come full circle and we're back all healthy. We got a bit of sickness this past week a little bit but we're back full again. And that's important. We're right where we were at the beginning of the season, which makes me feel a lot better for this last push."

The health of the Eagles showed up in the second half, as well, adding 31 more points while holding Touchet to only six.

Fleming had four completions on six attempts for 118 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 12 times for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Brewer had three rushes for 123 yards and a touchdown and two receptions for 48 yards and two touchdowns.

St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse will close out its season at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4 in Pomeroy against the Pomeroy Pirates.

In other 1B football news around the county, Garfield-Palouse remains searching for its first win of the season after losing 76-8 to DeSales on Oct. 28 at home. The Vikings stand at 0-8 on the season and 0-7 in league competition.

Garfield-Palouse will hope to get its first win of the season at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5 against fellow 0-8 team Yakama Nation Tribal in

Toppenish.