Hawks aim at Dayton

Heading into homecoming healthy and with a winless opponent, things are looking up for the Nighthawks of Tekoa, Oakesdale and Rosalia. The 1-4 Nighthawks host 0-5 Dayton Friday at Oakesdale in a battle of two teams at the bottom of the SE 2B league standings.

TOR coach Ken Lindgren said the Bulldogs are in a rebuilding year, as they look to field eight sophomores in their starting lineup.

Dayton is coming off a 53-0 loss to Asotin, and has managed to score just 22 points so far this season.

“I’m not looking past anybody. We’re 1-4, so our record doesn’t let us look ahead,” Lindgren said.

TOR QB John Kuhn and utility man Scott Eberle both return to the lineup. Both missed last Friday’s game, a 6-40 loss to Waitsburg-Prescott at Oakesdale.

Kuhn returns from a knee injury, and Eberle, the ‘hawks backup QB, was out with pneumonia. Their absences left TOR without a QB.

SE Big B Standings

Asotin 3-0 6-0

DeSales 3-0 4-2

Waits.-Pres. 2-0 5-0

Pomeroy 1-2 2-3

Dayton 0-2 0-5

Lib. Christ. 0-2 1-4

TOR 0-3 1-4

“It was rough. We really had to scramble to figure out how to deal with it,” said Lindgren.

The ‘hawks, who lined up with three backs in a shotgun mode, hung tough through the first half against the 5-0 Cardinals

After 30-yard WP touchdown pass, the Nighthawks took the ball down to the seven yard line where they faced a first-and-goal, but a false start, a botched snap and a fumbled pass attempt gave the Cards the ball at the TOR 35.

“It was just one of those things,” said Lindgren. “If we score and tie it or go up 7-6; that changes the whole complexion of the game.”

Instead the Cards notched another touchdown on a 51-yard pass play to put the game at 14-0 heading into the halftime locker room.

Lindgren credited his defense for stopping the run and keeping the ‘hawks in the game through the first half.

WP took control in the third quarter, dropping 20 points on the ‘hawks to put the game away.

Zach St. John punched in a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to notch TOR’s lone score.