After a season of dominating wins, the Eagles simply needed to fine-tune their offense and defense in preparation for playoffs. Riverdale, one of the best teams in the Central Sierra Division, offered little challenge as the Eagles beat the Cowboys, 38-7, on Oct. 25.

Sam Fisher,’03, set a school and tied a section record with 6 TD passes to go along with his 247 passing yards in the win.

“I didn’t know about the records until after the game.” Fisher said. “It’s pretty cool though.” Fisher ended the game going 14-21-1 for 247 yards throwing to 4 different receivers for TDs.

Michael Van Beek, ’03, led the receiving corp with 5 catches for 142 yards and 2 TDs. His first came on a 26-yard screen from Fisher and the second on a 45-yard fly pattern down the sidelines.

Brian Casey, ’03, also caught 2 TDs including a diving 14-yard catch at the back of the end zone to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter. He ended the game with 2 catches for 40 yards.

Rene Charest, ’04, who lately has been carrying the Eagles on his broad shoulders, only gained 54 yards, in large part due to a lack of touches.

Seeing yet another impressive performance by the defense was even more encouraging for the Eagles who held the Cowboys to 131 yards on 6 first downs.

“We’ve got some injuries right now but guys are stepping in and getting the job done,” Chris Schultz, defensive coordinator, said. “But if we are going to make a run into the playoffs we need our team to be at full strength.”

The most glaring injury for the defense is linebacker David Pohl’s, ’03, back injury, sustained in a helmet on helmet collision against Riverdale. Pohl said he is expected to miss a week.

“I think people thought it was worse than it was at first because the trainer on the field instructed me not to move.” Pohl said. “It’s probably best that it happened at this point in the season. I should be back by the league championships.”

Seth Fisher, ?04, who plays outside linebacker, is also expected to return to action against Laton from a shoulder injury that has sidelined him for over a month.

It is becoming clear that the Eagles, even injury depleted, are a step above the rest of the teams in the Central Sierra League. Unbeaten in league play, the Eagles have two wins over their nearest competitors, Riverdale.

Coach Jon Hall said he is hopeful that his team will receive an emotional boost from the return of Pohl and Fisher later in the week.

“With those guys coming back, our defense will be at full strength.” Hall said. “Also, the rest of the guys may be inspired by the strength and determination of those guys [Fisher and Pohl].”

The Eagles finished the game with 377 yards in total offense including Rene Charest’s, ’04, 54 rushing yards. Fisher also had TD passes to Justin Shanen, ’04, and Colby Hunter, ’03.

FC is now 6-0 in the Central Sierra League and 8-0 overall and are still ranked #7 in the Sequoia/Sierra Division by The Fresno Bee (Oct. 31). The Eagles next travel to Laton to take on the Mustangs on Nov. 1.