Eagles shut down by Raiders, 28-8

A 1-3 non-league record could be explained away to the Vista del Lago faithful as nothing more than a tough, non-league schedule aimed at getting the team prepared for the Capital Valley Conference schedule. But what about an opening 28-8 loss to Rio Americano on Friday night, the team's first loss ever in 12 meetings against the school? The loss simply means the Eagles have a lot of work to do, but they've still got plenty of time to do it. Against the Raiders, Vista turned the ball over four times with three fumbles and an interception. First and foremost, teams that turn the ball over four times aren't winning many games. Secondly, while the team moved the ball through the air relatively well except for the one interception, the Eagles got little yardage in the run game, which has been a staple of the teams for years. Vista gained eight yards on 12 carries. If you take away the times Vista quarterback Christian Chavez lost yards on sacks, Vista running backs only gained 23 yards on eight carries. "We just never got into any rhythm offensively," Vista coach Mike Struebing said. "I think we only had 17 snaps in the first half. Rio did a good job of being super physical and took away our inside run game. We usually don't turn the ball over but we did on Friday night. We'd have some success throwing it and begin to get a little momentum and then we either turned it over or had a penalty. I don't think we ever made it to the red zone. Bottom line is I didn't do a good enough job of preparing the guys." Vista's lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter when Chavez threw a touchdown pass to Cael Rens. The Eagles will try again next week, as they play host to Christian Brothers, who are 2-3 and coming off a 61-7 loss against Inderkum.