Boulder City High School’s flag football team opened the season with a win, dominating Western 28-6 on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Despite playing a far from perfect game against the Warriors, the Lady Eagles gained momentum from the victory, as well as the promise that better days are ahead when they play flawlessly.
“For opening night, I though the offense did a great job,” head coach Kevin Ruth said. “We made some dynamic plays, got a lot of girls involved. At times we tried to do too much and forced some errors, but we’ll make sure to get that cleaned up. Chemistry overall was big for us tonight. Everyone enjoyed themselves out there and that’s going to be a big team factor for us this year.”
Leading the way for the Lady Eagles was senior Emily Rinella, who flashed her dynamic play-making ability rushing for 150 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. She also caught three passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
“Emily is very patient in the back field,” Ruth said. “She did a good job following her blockers and finding open space. She was great tonight.”
Sophomore Paeton Carver threw a 60-yard touchdown pass, while catching a 35-yard touchdown pass. She also rushed for 20 yards on four carries.
“Paeton going to be great for us; for a sophomore she has a really good feel for the game,” Ruth said. “Scoring a touchdown off a catch and on a throw was great, and she did a great job for us on defense.”
Senior Emily Taggard caught three passes for 22 yards and senior Jasmyn Curl rushed for 16 yards on three carries.
Also throwing a touchdown pass, senior Makaela Perkins completed 3 of 9 passes for 57 yards, but struggled with three interceptions.
Giving his quarterback a vote of confidence, Ruth said he expects Perkins to bounce back quickly.
“Makaela is absolutely our starting quarterback,” he said. “We feel very comfortable with her. She came out and started really strong and then she let a little bit of the pressure she puts on herself overwhelm her. It’s our job to take the pressure off her as coaches. She’s our slinger and we’ll all get better with her.”
Playing lights out on defense, Rinella and Taggard each made six tackles, along with senior Clarrisa Sitcko. Junior Chloe Payne made four tackles.
“Were communicating really well on defense,” Ruth said. “They were super aggressive tonight and helping their teammates with different coverages. (The) great thing is we didn’t have Makena Arboreen tonight, so when she’s back, she’ll slide in and that will move more girls around and give us more depth.”
The Lady Eagles will travel to Mojave today, Dec. 5, followed by a home game against Valley on Monday, Dec. 9.
Wrestling
Hosting their annual Boulder City Duals on Saturday, Nov. 30, the Eagles tied for first place with rival Virgin Valley, winning three matches, with one tie.
Tying with the Bulldogs 42-42 in their last match, the Eagles defeated 4A Desert Oasis 45-36 and 3A Pahrump Valley 45-36. They dominated 2A Laughlin 78-6.
“I’m very proud of them and their effort,” head coach Jim Cox said. “We are a very young team. I’m excited to see how much they are going to improve.”
Finishing first in their respective weight classes were seniors Ladd Cox (195 pounds), Curtis Brown (145 pounds) and Justin Bonar (138 pounds), who each finished with a 4-0 record.
Placing second with 3-1 records were senior Jason Krumm (160 pounds) and freshman Hunter Moore (152 pounds).
Prepared to wrestle out-of-state competition, the Eagles will head to California to participate in the La Costa Canyon Classic on Friday, Dec. 6.
Results from the Eagles’ Tri Dual with 4A Durango and Laughlin on Wednesday, Dec. 4, will appear in next week’s issue.