Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
S.J.E. football 5305
As a BMW commercial once said, “Happiness isn’t around the corner, happiness is the corner.”
Whether for a driver on a closed German road or a running back for St. John-Endicott last Friday night against L/W, the feeling was shared.
Because Wade West and Wilson Lundberg found the corner, and kept finding it in a spirited 48-8 Homecoming win.
When the night was complete, West led with 256 yards on 12 carries while Lundberg ran for 102 yards on eight carries.
“The victory was well-needed,” said Eagles coach Steve Selk. “We had gone a stretch there when we struggled. It was great to be home and play as well as we did. The seniors really earned it.”
The game began tight in the first few possessions, as a cloud of gray wafted over the field from the hamburger grill.
“Come on Red!” called out S.J.E. fans.
“Come on Ref!” answered L/W fans for lack of a horse-collar call and a hit out of bounds call.
Soon after, the Eagles’ senior tight end Matt Gonzalez began the scoring with an 80-yard interception return. St. John-Endicott (3-5 overall, 1-4 in league) followed with a 22-yard run from quarterback Weston Whinery.
Wade West, another senior, added both two-point conversions.
The Eagles led 16-0 when West broke through on a 50-yard touchdown run to make it 22-0 at halftime.
After an all Ford-Mustang halftime, escorting the St. John-Endicott princesses, the teams were back on the field.
L/W (0-5 in league, 0-7 overall) began by moving the ball, including a long completion by quarterback Joey Guske before turning it over on downs.
“Tigercats!” called out the L/W sideline, as their defense lined up again at the Eagles line of scrimmage. “We fight! Tigercats! We fight!”
West took a spot in the backfield and bent into a crouch.
“Jacob! Jacob!” yelled out L/W coach Justin Ziebel. “Nothing outside of you.”
West got the handoff and fumbled on the play.
L/W recovered but couldn’t capitalize. The ball went back to the Eagles and with 5:41 left in the third quarter, Lundberg took a handoff and found the corner, taking it outside for a 58-yard touchdown run and 28-0.
The Tigercats gathered in a huddle.
“Hey, somebody come in that’s gonna hit somebody,” requested an L/W assistant.
The Tigercats then drove, taking the ball to a fourth down and goal on the Eagles’ two-yard line.
Guske took the snap, turned and threw to Graham DeBell. He caught it, lunged for the endzone but Micah Selk and another Eagle tackler held him back a foot short.
St. John-Endicott took over on downs with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.
West and Lundberg lined up in the I-formation in their own endzone.
The ball snapped and West took the handoff, pushed off a blocker – still in the endzone — cut outside and found the corner.
Eleven seconds was enough for 102 yards and the score.
It was 34-0 to start the fourth quarter.
L/W got the ball again and a big tackle by West into the infield dirt led to an eruption of calls for a penalty. It didn’t happen and, minutes later, the Eagles had the ball once more and Whinery pitched to West and he found that corner again.
There’s few things like open grass and open road.
A 49-yard touchdown run made it 40-0.
With under three minutes left in the game, L/W got on the board on a 40-yard pass play from Guske to DeBell.
St. John-Endicott had one more score, though, as Adam Blakeley took a handoff straight up the middle for 60 yards and the final score of 48-8.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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