Eatonville rolls over Cascade Christian, 41-6

Senior quarterback Kevin Wulff shined again for the Cruisers last week as they easily took care of the Cascade Christian Cougars, 41-6, Saturday at Sunset Stadium in Sumner.

The Cruisers struck first and struck often on the night.

After the mighty Cruiser defense forced the Cougars to go three and out on their opening possession, Eatonville got their offense started in their first possession on their own 38-yard line.

The Cruisers promptly marched 62 yards down the field on four plays and capped the series off when Wulff floated a 35-yard back shoulder fade to Jakob Lucht for the score. After Job Kralik’s PAT split the uprights, the Cruisers took a 7-0 lead and never looked back.

After the Cruisers forced another three and out, they wasted no time in scoring again.

This time, the Cruisers started at mid-field and three plays later found pay dirt when Wulff connected with a streaking Reilly McIlraith for a 45-yard touchdown. After the extra point, Eatonville extended its early lead, 14-0.

On Cascade Christian's next possession, Cruiser senior Austin Wicker ripped a pass away from Cougar receiver Jackson Almond to set up the Cruisers' next score.

Eight plays later, Wicker was rewarded for that interception when Coach Gavin Kralik called his number for a short 7-yard carry for the score. Eatonville expanded on its lead at 21-0.

The Cruiser defense then forced another three and out and took over on its own 32-yard line.

Eatonville slowly and methodically marched 68 yards on 13 plays before capping the drive with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Lucht to extend the lead to 28-0.

After a big sack by Cruiser Chase Grant on third and long for the Cougars, they punted the ball again and set the Cruisers up at their own 43-yard line.

Wulff again connected McIlraith with an over-the-should catch for the score to extend the lead to 35-0 as the half came to a close.

The Cruisers received the kickoff to start the second half and again struck quickly.

Starting from their own 20-yard line, the Cruisers called upon Wicker once again. The senior took the Wulff hand-off around the outside and turned on the jets as he outran all Cougar defenders down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown run. Kralik’s extra point attempt was unsuccessful this time, and the Cruisers led 41-0.

Cascade Christian would put together a drive that took the team in the red zone and knocking on the door at the Cruiser 10-yard line when Grant flushed quarterback Cade Sando out of the pocket and forced an errant throw that sophomore Griffin Clevenger picked off and scrambled 33 yards downfield before being brought down to end the third quarter.

The Cruisers then emptied their bench and brought in the underclassmen to finish out the game.

After the Cruisers had their first punt of the night, Cascade Christian put together a drive starting at midfield and capped it with a Byson Vasquez 11-yard carry for the score. Cruiser sophomore Memphis Barney blocked the extra point attempt.

Head Coach Gavin Kralik said he was pleased with how his players performed.

“We are pleased with the number of kids that are playing at a high level for us,” he said. “Through three games, we continue to get great production from a variety of players and position groups. Our kids understand that we are going to have to play really well this next week as we travel down to La Center.”

The Cruiser schedule will soon get tougher.

“We begin a three-game stretch against top 10 teams in the 1A classification, which will be a great test for our program,” Kralik said. “La Center is really well coached and has a ton of talent. We will need to play very disciplined to have a shot of coming out of there with a win.”

Wulff finished the night completing 11 of his 14 passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns. Wulff has now completed 72 percent of his passes this season for 730 yards and nine touchdowns. He is currently on pace to throw for close to 2,200 yards in the regular season. The Cruisers haven’t had a quarterback eclipse the 2,000-yard passing mark in a season since Jacob McCormick threw for 2,183 yards in 2015.

Game Stat Leaders

Passing: Kevin Wulff — 11-for-14 passing for 213 yards and four touchdowns

Rushing: Austin Wicker — Four carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns

Receiving: Reilly McIlraith — Four receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns

Jakob Lucht — Four receptions for 74 yards and two touchdowns

Interceptions: Austin Wicker (1) and Griffin Clevenger (1)

The No. 1-ranked Cruisers (3-0) will head to La Center this Friday to take on the No. 8-ranked La Center Wildcats (3-0) in another nonleague match up.

La Center High School is capping the number of fans that can attend that game to 500 people in order to bypass the state mask mandate for outdoor events over 500 people.

Eatonville was given 150 tickets. The players were given three tickets each, and any extras went to the senior players. Fans without a ticket reserved for them will not be admitted into the game.

La Center will be live streaming the game on the La Center Wildcat Football Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LaCenterFootball.