The spirit rides high for the green and white clad Eagles of Evergreen Lutheran.

The 0-4 Eagles hosted the 2-2 Quilcene Rangers in a non-league contest at Federal Way Stadium last Saturday. The Eagles are in their third year as a football program and were looking for their first win in the 2009 season.

They came off a tough loss to Crescent High School in an 8-man shootout, and with the Rangers coming in, they match up quite nicely.

Both programs have had their share of tough competition over the past two years. The Eagles’ only victory last season was over the Rangers.

Nathan Seiltz, is in his first season as head coach.

“We have a couple guys back this week that we did not have,” says coach Seiltz, “It is good to have junior Roland Wedder finally back from a leg injury. Last week we did not have Stevie Lawrence due to the flu. This will greatly help us today.”

The Eagles are still without junior running back Tom Simone and junior defensive corner Favian Chung.

The defensive side of the ball is what coach Seiltz has made the primary focus as of late. Having linebacker Roland Wedde, one of the leading tacklers last season, back in the lineup enables the Eagles to achieve that focus. The dynamic duo of Wedde and Loucks, another junior, had accounted for 10 of the 26 tackles made in the first half.

If you add in the five solo and three assisted tackles of Brendan Parker, sophomore outside LB, the Eagles seem solid across the second line of defense.

The Eagles’ offense has improved.

Chris Loucks has shown a strong arm as the new quarterback for EL. This was evident on the opening drive of the contest, with Loucks going 3-for-3 and finding Jayson Kjenstad on a 29-yard TD pass. It took 1:13 off the clock on the three play drive. Loucks continued the attack with a 40-yard bomb to Kjenstad that took him down to the 1-yard line and two plays later the Eagles punched it in to go up 12-0. This was the score at half with Loucks’ 6-for-10 passing and 148 yards through the air.

The second half began with strong defense by both teams. Neither team mounted attacks until Brandon Bancroft, the Ranger QB, scrambled around the Eagles’ right side. The loss of containment gave Bancroft (70-yard run) an outside lane and the Rangers found themselves only down four after the successful two point conversion.

The score was 12-8, but the Eagles answered with a long drive of their own. They capped the drive with a 3-yard Lawrence TD run, giving him his second of the day.

The fourth quarter was set for the Eagle defense to bear down and not allow Quilcene any advantage.

The Eagles pressure forced Bancroft out of the pocket time and time again. Bancroft could not find his receivers, and at the 10:18 mark, Wedde scooped up a fumble and took it 30 yards for the score. The Eagles jumped into a secure 27-8 lead.

The Quilcene Rangers continued to battle and because of the EL missed tackles, Bancroft again found some open turf scampering 73 yards for the TD.

With the two-point extra point successful, the Rangers made the score 27-16 and 3:21 to play.

The onside kick was unsuccessful and the Eagles ran out the clock for the victory. The homecoming game gave the Eagles their first victory of the season and focuses them on their next opponent, the Chief Leschi Warriors.