After leading by just a touchdown at halftime, the West Eagles erupted in the third quarter with three scores from three seniors who all had big individual performances Saturday night in a 35-6 rout of the Service Cougars.
“I think we just started to click and figure out Service’s moves and how they were playing us on defense,” said junior Harrison Steeves-Little, one of two quarterbacks for the Eagles. “We just took advantage of our opportunities and played as a team.
Quarterback Jaideven Suesue threw and rushed for a touchdown, wide receiver Quentin Underwood caught a touchdown from both quarterbacks and notched an interception, and running back James “Boogie” Sloan ran for a pair of touchdowns to help the Eagles win the Cook Inlet Conference football game.
The first and only points in the opening half came with about three minutes left in the first quarter when Suesue and Underwood connected on a 48-yard catch-and-run play. Underwood caught the pass near the right sideline before cutting back inside and weaving his way through the second and third level of Service’s defense.
“He’s always been a playmaker, he’s always been that guy you can go to make plays and he’s just there when you need him,” said Steeves-Little.
Steeves-Little reached the end zone in the first half on an impressive 80-yard sprint down the right sideline, but it was negated by a holding penalty. The play was a quarterback keeper to the right side of the field, and after Steeves-Little got to the edge and turned the corner, he outran the Cougar defense all the way to the end zone.
“You never want something like that called back because that’s a big thing for anybody,” he said. “When it got called back I was a little mad, to be honest, but we had faith in our guys and still pulled it out in the end.”
It was a night of redeemable moments for the Eagles, who recovered from a sloppy first half.
After an interception bounced off his hands in the first quarter, senior cornerback Terrence Grissett picked off Service quarterback Coen Niclai in the third quarter and returned the ball nearly 40 yards before getting tackled a yard shy of the end zone.
“I had to make sure I caught the second one because I had to make up for the first one,” Grissett said. “I was trying to get the touchdown so bad.”
West moved to 2-0, and Service dropped to 0-2.
The Eagles were three seconds away from getting the shutout when the Cougars found the end zone. After a big passing play and a penalty put Service on the 4-yard line, Niclai sprinted to the left and got the ball just inside the pylon for the touchdown.
“You always want to pitch a shutout when you can, but at the end of the day there is only one stat that matters and that’s the ‘W’ or the ‘L,’ and the defense was an integral part of that,” said West coach Tim Davis.