Eatonville Releases 2019 Cruiser Football Schedule

The Eatonville Cruisers will open things up at home Sept. 6 when they host the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats. The Wildcats have been a real powerhouse over the last decade so it will be a real test for the Cruisers. 

They will then travel to Sunset Stadium in Sumner Sept. 13 to battle the Cascade Christian Cougars. This game will really test the Cruisers’ secondary as Cougar quarterback Parker Johnson is one of the better quarterbacks in the state. 

After that test, the Cruisers will play host to their longtime rivals, the Orting Cardinals Sept. 20. This game is always a great game regardless of each team’s record. 
The Washington Patriots will then march into Eatonville on Sept. 27 to battle the Cruisers. This will also be the EHS Hall of Fame game where former EHS sports starts will be inducted into the Eatonville High School Hall of Fame. That will take place at halftime.

On Oct. 4, the Cruisers will head to South Sound Stadium in Lacey to square off against the River Ridge Hawks. The Hawks have perennially been a very strong program. The Cruisers have beaten them the last few times they have played them and will hope to continue that streak. 

Oct. 11  will see the Cruisers traveling to Foster High School to take on the Bulldogs. This will be the first time since joining the SPSL 2A league that these two teams will meet. The Cruisers should have no problems in this game.

The Cruisers big test of the season will come Oct. 18 when they travel to Steilacoom HS to take on the Sentinels. Even though the Sentinels have lost the star quarterback JJ Lemming to graduation, they still have one of the top athletes in the nation in Emeka Egbuka who is drawing lots of interest from some of the top college football programs in the nation. Egbuka, who will be a junior this coming season, is a stand out receiver and cornerback for the Sentinels and is the #1 rated wide receiver in the nation. The Cruisers defense and wide receivers will have their work cut out for them in this game.

The Cruisers will finish off the regular season Oct. 25 with their Homecoming Game when they play host to the Fife Trojans. 

The Cruisers will then host the league crossover game Nov. 1 against an opponent to be named from either the Tier 2 or Tier 3 division. 

New League Assignment for Eatonville

The South Puget Sound League 2A league that the Cruisers have been a part of for the last three years has undergone a slight change for the upcoming season.

When the Cruisers first moved up from the 1A Evergreen League into the SPSL 2A league in 2016 the league was broken up into 2 divisions, the mountain and the sound divisions. In 2018, the league moved to a 3 division system in just about all sports except for football. In 2019, football will move to the 3 division format as well. The 3 divisions will be call Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.

Each team is placed in a tier based on their level of success over the based 3 season. The Cruisers have been placed in to Tier 1. In those past 3 seasons, the Cruisers have compiled a 22-9 overall record and made it to the district playoffs all 3 years and to the state tournament 2 of those years.
Teams in Tier 1 along with the Cruisers will be the Fife Trojans, River Ridge Hawks, Steilacoom Sentinels, and Washington Patriots. The Tier 2 division will consist of the Clover Park Warriors, Foster Bulldogs, Franklin Pierce Cardinals, Orting Cardinals, and White River Hornets. Filling out Tier 3 will be the Renton Indians, Highline, Foss Falcons, Evergreen Wolverines, and Lindbergh Eagles.

Kralik talked a little about the new league alignment and what it means for the Cruisers, “The SPSL 2A League decided to split the football league into three tiered divisions based upon each teams level of success over the past three seasons. With that change, our new division will consist of Steilacoom, Fife, Washington, River Ridge and Eatonville. It will be an extremely challenging and difficult schedule. We are excited for this opportunity and know that our level of commitment and preparation must increase to prepare for this schedule.”

This may be the last year the Cruisers compete at the 2A level as the projected enrollment numbers will drop them below the threshold needed to compete at the 1A level. The administration has been looking into dropping back down into the 1A class and possible rejoining either the Nisqually League or the Evergreen League. The Cruisers were members of both leagues in years past.