Reardan eeks past Lake Roosevelt

REARDAN - The Screaming Eagles football team opened the 2023 season by defeating Lake Roosevelt 14-12 in a non-conference 2B game on an idyllic autumn evening, Friday, Sept. 1.

After receiving the opening kickoff, Reardan unleashed an impressive running game behind the blocking of Jonathan Holdway and his offensive line mates. Zander Thornton and Aiden Chilson picked up large chunks of yardage on the team's first offensive drive.

With 6:56 remaining in the first quarter, Chilson punched the ball in from the three-yard line to cap a 10-play, 58-yard drive. The Raiders blocked Hunter Flaa's extra point attempt, making the score 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Junior quarterback Rysen Soliday opened the second quarter with a 25-yard pass to Jakari Singleton.

But just as the evening temperatures cooled, so did Reardan's offense. Penalties stymied their efforts to sustain several drives, forcing them to sputter and then turn the ball over to Lake Roosevelt.

As Reardan's offense stalled, its defense stepped up and made crucial plays, stopping Lake Roosevelt dead in its tracks on two promising drives. Richard Boyd and Chilson ended one drive with a quarterback sack and a bone-jarring tackle out-of-bounds, and Thornton ended another with an interception at midfield.

Reardan took a 6-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"In the first quarter we ran the ball down the field in big chunks," Reardan head football coach Matt Clouse said. "After that we self-destructed with mental mistakes and penalties."

Led by Landon Bell's consecutive tackles for loss, Reardan continued its hard-nosed defense in the third quarter. With neither team showing the ability to make a big play, it appeared the game would end in a low scoring defensive struggle.

That would not be the case.

With 8:13 left in the game, Raider quarterback Wyatt Egbert fired a 37-yard touchdown pass to Chase Marchand to tie the game 6-6. Lake Roosevelt failed its 2-point conversion attempt when Flaa intercepted Egbert's pass in the end zone.

Reardan countered on its next drive by scoring a touchdown on Soliday's 10-yard pass to Thornton, allowing the Screaming Eagles to pull ahead 12-6. Chilson added the two-point conversion with his run up the middle, giving Reardan an eight-point cushion at 14-6 with 4:37 left in the game.

Not to be outdone, Egbert hit Marchand with a 34-yard touchdown pass one minute later to bring the Raiders back to within two-points. Their 2-point conversion attempt failed.

On its last possession of the game, Reardan secured the 14-12 win with a strong ground game and consecutive kneel downs to run out the clock.

"The boys didn't panic," Clouse said. "They made some huge plays in the big moments of the game. The defense rose to the challenge by shutting them down on two 2-point conversion attempts."

Clouse was proud of the boys who battled in the trenches.

"Jonathan Holdway, Richard Boyd, Josiah Mendoza, Sterling McLaughlin and Freedom Lamoureaux did a great job protecting Soliday on his key completions to Singleton and Thornton," Clouse said.

Besides a solid effort protecting his quarterback, Holdway was pleased with his offensive line's execution in the running game.

"I think we did well tonight," Holdway said. "Sometimes we could have done better, but for our first game we came out and performed."

Clouse praised Chilson for being a "workhorse" and credited Tate Nelson with key blocks that sprung Chilson on several big runs.

"The boys did great," Chilson said. "They worked hard all night. I couldn't have done anything without them. I wanted to make them proud tonight."

Reardan out rushed Lake Roosevelt 215-28.

Soliday completed 6 passes for 68 yards and one touchdown. Chilson gained 150 yards on 20 carries and Singleton caught three passes for 59 yards.

Egbert completed 14 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns for Lake Roosevelt.

The Screaming Eagles' next game is against Northwest Christian at Deer Park High School at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 8.