Screaming Eagles crush Kettle Falls

KETTLE FALLS – For the second week in a row, Reardan’s football team scored 50 points in its 54-0 thrashing of the Bulldogs Friday, Oct 27. The win was the Screaming Eagles’ third in a row and secured them third place in the NE2B League and a spot in the Crossover Tournament against Brewster Friday, Nov. 3.

“Our boys played extremely well tonight,” Reardan head coach Matt Clouse said. “They started out fast and did not let up.”

So fast, that before Reardan had a chance to run an offensive play, the defense scored on Jakari Singleton’s partially blocked punt that Hunter Flaa caught and returned for the first of eight Screaming Eagles’ touchdowns.

The Bulldogs’ next offensive drive came to a screeching halt by Rysen Soliday’s interception that set up Aiden Chilson’s run up the middle for Reardan’s second touchdown in the opening minutes of the first quarter.

Blake Wynecoop ended the Bulldogs’ third drive with an interception of his own. Quarterback Soliday made Kettle Falls pay for its mistake by hitting Zander Thornton with a quick touchdown pass.

After one quarter, Reardan led 20-0.

In the second quarter, Reardan played much the same, only better. The defense thwarted Kettle Falls every drive and its offense racked up more points.

Soliday opened the quarter with a quick strike to Singleton in the end zone for a touchdown. He then picked off his second pass of the game that put the ball back in the Screaming Eagles’ hands. Thornton scored his second touchdown of the game on a counter run.

After stopping the Bulldogs on their next possession, Tate Nelson took the ball on another counter run and, after juking several Bulldog defenders, scampered into the end zone.

Shortly thereafter Richard Boyd plunged up the middle for his first touchdown of the season to cap off a 27-point scoring quarter for Reardan.

Reardan led at halftime 47-0.

Because Reardan led by 40 points at halftime, the Mercy Rule took effect, which meant the game clock would not stop. The large lead also allowed the Screaming Eagles to clear their bench and let several players switch from their normal positions.

One of those was Flaa, who came in at quarterback and hit Landon Bell in the back of the end zone for Reardan’s final score of the game.

“Tonight our defense forced turnovers and got stops and our offense was efficient,” Clouse said.

Reardan produced 371 yards of total offense compared to 111 by Kettle Falls.

Nelson, Wynecoop and Brody Jones led the Screaming Eagles in rushing yards with 74, 72 and 43, respectively.

In addition to scoring a touchdown, Chilson kicked six extra points.

The Screaming Eagles ended league play with a 5-3 record. Their next game will be against Brewster Friday, Nov. 3 in a District 6/7 crossover game to determine who will advance to the state football tournament.