Summit Christian Eagles soar over Riverfield

The Summit Christian Eagles go to 2-0 for the first time in school history after their 54-16 win over Riverfield. The Eagles defense bent, but didn't break on the first drive of the Ravens, allowing them to run the ball down the field but would stop them on 4th down at the Eagles 13 yard line. Summit then took their opening drive 87 yards before coughing up the ball in the end zone. The defense took over again stopping the Ravens. Summit, led by sophomore Blake Burch and senior Logan Fowler held the Ravens scoreless through the first half. Offensively, the Eagles have relied on running back Damon Smith, full back Merrick Gamble, and signal caller Josh Moyer to take a 20-0 lead at the half. Summit opened up the second half with a 100 yard kickoff return, only to have it brought back due to a penalty. They would start their second half drive at their own 18 yard line, when Moyer took a 22 yard scamper up the side line. Burch would then follow that up with a nice 10 yard run then a 7 yard dash to continue the march downfield. Moyer then completed a 27 yard pass Channing Migliore. Burch topped of the drive with a 2 yard dive up the gut. Summit would lead 26-0 with 7:24 in the 3rd quarter. Riverfield would try to make it interesting after completing a 22 yard pass to near midfield. The Eagles A.J. Hawkins would drop the quarterback for a 15 yard loss to bring up a 2nd and long for the Ravens to keep the drive alive. Migliore would then intercept the ball on Summit's 17 yard line, however on the first play of the ensuing drive, Summit coughed up the ball and gave the Ravens their best field position of the night, the Eagles 18 yard line. Once again, Summit would stop them on an interception in the end zone by Blake Burch. Moyer coughs up the ball and the Ravens would take over on the Eagles 2 yard line. This time Riverfield would take advantage of the field position and mistake by Summit, punching it in from 1 yard out to bring the score to 26-8 with 2.9 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter. Damon Smith of Summit would return the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Ravens 43 yard line to end the 3rd quarter. "It is really nice to have the tandem of Damon Smith and Blake Burch. They give each other some rest and keep each other fresh," said quarterback Josh Moyer. "They both play such an integral part of our team." Burch would gain 22 yards on the next two carries. The sophomore would then tack on a 24 yard touchdown run on the next play to make the score 34-8. After stopping the Ravens, the Eagles took over on offense again with Burch adding another 32 yard touchdown run to lengthen the lead to 42-8 with 9:03 remaining in the game. The Eagles wouldn't be finished for the night. Merrick Gamble would tack on a 24 yard scamper before Moyer connected with Migliore for a 28 yard pass and then topped it off with a 5 yard toss to add another touchdown to make the score 48-8. Riverfield would score again on a 50 yard run by Hunter Wilkens to narrow the gap. Summit would close out scoring with a 51 yard connection from Moyer to Agape Baissa to make the final 54-16. "Moyer is a trooper," said first year head coach Keith Bell. "He handles the huddle well and shows great leadership and poise." "This team has come a long way. We still have a ways to go until we peak," said first year head coach Keith Bell. "This team hasn't even peaked yet." "Our next goal is to get to 3-0. We will take it one game at a time. One play at a time. That's how we achieve our goals," he added. "We had some fumbles and missed tackles tonight and we were still able to put up 54 points on a good Riverfield team. If we can get those kinks worked out, this will be a really good football team."