Eagles fall to Oakdale, 49-17

The good news for Vista del Lago is they don't have to play teams as good as Bradshaw Christian, Granite Bay and Oakdale for a little while, teams that have a combined record of 8-3. The Eagles open Capital Valley Conference play on the road at Rio Americano on Friday night. The good news is Rio Americano is only averaging just over six yards per rushing attempt. The Eagles have given up 1,340 yards rushing in their last three games, which is an average of 446 yards per game. That's bad, but the worst part about it isn't so much the yards but the yards per carry. Of the last three opponents, the lowest amount of yards per carry average was 9.4 by Granite Bay. Vista has to do something with its run defense or it will continue to be a long season. "We started off well, but we've been streaky ever since," Vista del Lago coach Mike Struebing said. "We've been trying to be more consistent. There have been moments when we've played with Granite Bay, when we've played with Oakdale, but we haven't sustained it for four quarters. That's what we're working towards now." In last week's 49-17 loss to Oakdale, the Eagles led a quarter of the way into the game, 7-0. By halftime, however they were trailing by three touchdowns, thanks in part by a pair of interceptions and by coming up with only three points in two trips into the red zone. The team is struggling at this point, but they know that everyone is back to 0-0 as league play begins this week. The Eagles scored on a one-yard pass from Christian Chavez to Cael Rens in the first quarter and also had a 14-yard touchdown run from Joseph Ahola in the fourth quarter. Ahola also banged a 20-yard field goal in the second quarter for the Eagles. "We told them to continue to lean into one another and not let the adversity to breakdown relationships with each other or the coaching staff," Struebing said. "It's hard to look in the mirror when things aren't going well, but we've lost to three really good football teams. We hope the boys continue with the process. They wanted more for the last three games because they've put so much into it." The Eagles played their second straight game without their starting quarterback Jacoby More, who is out with a hamstring injury. Struebing said it's very unlikely that More will play this week against the Raiders, as he said it's still uncomfortable for More to run. "We know that Rio will be more balanced than Oakdale is and will try to pass the ball," Struebing said. "They know what their identity is and what they want to do. I think they're 2-2 and it should be a good match-up."