Words: Giana Han

On Oct. 4, the Centennial Eagles came back from their loss against the River Hill Hawks last week to beat the Long Reach Lightning 34-7.

The game started slow, and neither team scored during the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the pace picked up a bit. Chase Conley scored the first points of the game with an 80-yard pick six.  The score became 14-0 when Walter Fletcher had a 35-yard rushing touchdown.

Long Reach got the ball back and made it down to Centennial’s one yard line.  The Eagles held them for three downs, but the Lightning decided to go for the touchdown on their fourth down and scored with 22.5 seconds left on the clock in the second quarter. The half ended with the Eagles up 14-7.

The Eagles came out of their half time break strong. Tyler Morris passed the ball 35 yards to Conley for another touchdown.  A missed extra point left the score at 20-7.

Two more touchdowns were scored, one by Fletcher and one by Morris.  The Lightning did not score at all in the second half.  The final score was 34-7.

The Eagles played extremely well, with many terrific plays throughout the game.  Connor Marcinek, John Kolp, and Sean Donohue all had fumble recoveries.  Damon Reaves and Patrick Mckinnis each had an interception, and Fletcher rushed for a total of 188 yards.

“We knew if we didn’t make a statement this week, then teams in the county would start to be able to beat up on us if we didn’t come out on fire and do what we did,” said Conley who had two interceptions and two touchdowns. “I just knew I had to have a big game coming back so I just went out there and did what I had to do.”

One player put up his first points of the season.  With Nick Cooper out, the team needed a replacement kicker and Sam Reichenthal filled that spot, making four of his extra point kicks.

“Coop [Cooper] was out.  He was hurt and they needed a kicker, so I stepped up,” said Reichenthal.

Friday’s game signaled something bigger than a rebound from the River Hill game.  It was the game that officially made this year’s record better than last year’s, and it prepares them for their homecoming game.  The Eagles are currently 4-1, and they have the Homecoming game to look forward to this Saturday, Oct. 12.

“It gives us a lot of momentum for homecoming.  This [Atholton] is coach Kriner’s old team.  We want nothing more to get a W on homecoming,” said Conley.