Eagles defeat Vikings in OT thriller

ST. JOHN – It took four overtimes for the Eagles to upend a winless Garfield-Palouse football team, 54-48, in a Class 1B matchup Friday night, Sept. 23.

"I told the guys all week long we cannot underestimate Gar-Pal," St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse Coach John Hergert said.

"That was wild. I don't know if I've ever coached an overtime football game," Garfield-Palouse Coach Garrett Parrish said.

It was the second time the teams met this season already. In a Week 1 matchup, the Eagles routed the Vikings, 55-0.

Garfield-Palouse (0-4, 0-2) was down again heading into the game, with only 12 available players. Even so, the Vikings gave undefeated St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse (3-0, 2-0) its biggest test of the season, so far.

"Our guys fought, man, Parrish said. "We started today with 12 (players) and for the last half of the game we were down to 10. We just kept sending guys out there and moving them around. We kept battling we just couldn't score when we needed to in overtime."

The Eagles were without key players.

Bear Brewster was out with an injury and starting quarterback Matthew DeFord was knocked out of the game after being involved in a collision with a teammate and a Vikings player on defense.

Starting running back Tanner Fleming was moved to quarterback and helped lead the Eagles to secure the win.

"Honestly, my hat is off to the Gar-Pal team," Hergert said. "The Viking team did a wonderful job; their coaches did a great job.

"And we had to find something special to pull it off."

Hergert also described the trust he had with Fleming at quarterback.

"(Fleming) isn't my running back. He's my backup quarterback," Hergert said. "He's been taking snaps; he's been throwing the ball before

"He was my quarterback in middle school, so I trust Tanner completely with the ball. There's nothing he can't do on the football field. I trust him completely."

St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse is one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the 1B Southeast league, with Liberty Christian and DeSales.

The Eagles take on DeSales on Oct. 7 in Walla Walla, before facing Liberty Christian in St. John the following week.