Cruisers Win Big On Homecoming

The Cruisers make a grand entrance before their convincing 51-6 victory over Elma. Photo: Grace Bamford

This past Friday night the #2 ranked Eatonville Cruisers welcomed in Elma HS to B.W. Lyon Field by saying, “Welcome to our HOME, but you’re gonna be sorry for COMING” as they hosted the Eagles for their annual Homecoming game in which the Cruisers did make them sorry for coming with a convincing 51-6 shellacking.

After the Eagles fumbled away the ball on their opening possession, Reilly McIlraith would recover the ball at the Cruiser 47-yard line. The Cruisers would deal the first blow on their second play from scrimmage when quarterback Kevin Wulff would find a wide-open Job Kralik and hit him in stride for a 50-yard score. Kralik would put the extra point through the uprights and the Cruisers would lead 7-0 with 8:22 left in the first quarter and never look back.

Eatonville would score again on their next possession when Wulff would keep the ball on a designed draw play and outrace the Eagle defenders to the end zone. After the extra point, the Cruisers would extend their lead to 14-0 at the 2:53 mark in the first quarter.

Only 20 seconds into the second quarter, the Cruisers would strike again. Wulff would find a wide-open Kralik again, this time for a 65-yard score. Kralik’s extra point would be successful and the Cruisers would now lead 21-0.

Kralik would find the end zone again midway through the second when he would take the Wulff handoff off the fly sweep 14 yards for the score to increase the Eatonville lead to 28-0.

Kralik would add to the Cruisers point total again as he would hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired in the half to give Eatonville a 31-0 into halftime as the Homecoming court was ready to be announced.

The 2021 homecoming court was:

Seniors - Sophia Henley/Brandon Storm, Rylee Valentine/Waylan Mettler, Berkeley Porter/Jakob Lucht, and Hailey Rath/Kevin Wulff

Juniors – Heather Nash/Kaleb Forysiak and Grace Fuhrman/Job Kralik

Sophomores – Kennedy Noble/Max Henley and Ella Gendreau/Dylan Norman

Freshman – Alayna Meyer/Justen Koch and Ruby Morgan/Lucas Lavergne

The 2021 Eatonville High School Homecoming King and Queen were Sophia Henley and Brandon Storm.

Photo: Sarah Rath

Once the halftime Homecoming festivities were complete, Eatonville would waste no time lighting up the scoreboard again. This time, Wulff would hit Jakob Lucht on a bubble pass and he would race up the sideline 25-yards for the score to increase the Cruiser lead to 38-0 with 10:19 left in the third.

Freshman Griffin Clevenger would get in on the scoring party midway through the third when he took Kevin Wulff's handoff 38-yards, breaking four tackles along the way, to find the end zone. Eatonville would now lead 45-0.

In the closing minutes of the third quarter, Elma would finally get into the end zone on a 70-yard touchdown run by Jerred Bailey. The ensuing two-point conversion would be thwarted and Eatonville would still lead 45-6.

Sophomore Dylan Norman would finish up the scoring for the Cruisers at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Norman would take the Wulff handoff and run through a huge hole opened up by the mighty Cruiser offensive line into the end zone to increase the Cruiser lead. The Cruisers would win the game by a final score of 51-6.

The Cruisers would rack up an astounding 683 all-purpose yards on the night, while the defense would hold the Eagles to only 140 yards.

Job Kralik would have a break-out night for the Cruisers catching 7 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball one time for 15 yards and a score. Kralik would convert on 6 of his 7 extra-point attempts and also kick a 37-yard field goal.

Quarterback Kevin Wulff would complete 17 of his 24 pass attempts for 362 yards and three touchdowns while running the ball two times for 45 yards and a score.

Dylan Norman would carry the ball 17 times for 128 yards and a touchdown to become the Cruisers' first 100+ yard rusher of the season. Norman would also catch one of Wulff’s passes for 16 yards.

With the win, the Cruisers improve to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in league play with just two games left in the regular season.

The Cruisers' next game will be Saturday, October 23rd at 1 pm when they host the Caste Rock Rockets out of the 1A Trico League. This will also be Senior Day for all of the Cruiser seniors.

Game Stat Leaders

Passing – Kevin Wulff 17/24 for 362 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT. 2 rushes for 45 yards, 1 TD.

Rushing – Dylan Norman 17 carries for 128 yards, 1 TD. 1 reception for 16 yards.

Receiving – Job Kralik 7 receptions for 169 yards, 2 TD. 1 rush for 15 yards, 1 TD.

– Jakob Lucht 4 receptions for 96 yards, 1 TD

Defense – Reilly McIlraith 3 tackles, 1 interception, and a fumble recovery.