Eastmont High running back Colby King rushes for a touchdown in the first quarter against Wenatchee High during Friday night's Battle of the Bridges at Wildcat Stadium in East Wenatchee.
Eastmont High running back Colby King rushes for a touchdown in the first quarter against Wenatchee High during Friday night's Battle of the Bridges at Wildcat Stadium in East Wenatchee.
EAST WENATCHEE — Wenatchee got blown out 56-24 in the Battle of the Bridges Friday at Eastmont Stadium.
The Wildcats put the game on ice by half after scoring touchdowns on four of their first six drives of the game — all of which were over 40 yards.
Luke Gale carved up the Panther defense, tossing a 41-yard bomb to Colby King to open the second quarter. Gale then hit junior Adrian Ruffins with a 73-yard TD pass on the next drive. Ruffins made a tremendous catch, adjusting to a slightly under-thrown ball and reeling it in one-handed before jogging into the end zone.
Wenatchee’s lone bright spot in the first half was a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Bishop to tight end Rivers Cook. The second half wasn’t much better.
Eastmont scored on the second play of the third quarter after Gunnar Peterson burst through the line with a 65-yard touchdown run. Wenatchee responded on its next drive and Jackson Bishop scored on a quarterback keeper, but Eastmont dominated from there.
King scored his third touchdown of the game following another 51-yard run. Then Peterson got his second TD after scoring from 13-yards out. Julian Cortez salted away the win with a 35-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes left in the game.
For Wenatchee, it wasn’t pretty.
But for Eastmont, this was the kind of game the Wildcats needed following a pair of soul-crushing 14-13 losses to Mead and Timberline. The Wildcats won every phase of the game and rolled past their cross-bridge rival, who they’ve beaten each of the last three years.
Gale finished 6-for-8 for 186 yards and two touchdowns; the difference maker though was the run game. Eastmont gashed Wenatchee for chunk plays throughout the game and rushed for a whopping 416 yards. King, Peterson and Austin Ruffins all rushed for over 100 yards.
Bishop finished 10-for-19 for 135 yards and a touchdown, he also ran for 28 yards and a score. Anthony Martinez rushed for 80 yards on 24 carries and Jack Fluegge punched in a six yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Eastmont will look to keep things going next week against Davis while Wenatchee is hoping for a bounce-back game next Friday in its home-opener against Eisenhower. Kickoff in both games is at 7 p.m.
Zach Johnson is a 29-year-old sportswriter from Lakewood, Colorado. When he's not out covering local sporting events you can find him carding birdies at the local golf courses, biking the Apple Capital Loop Trail, or skiing Mission Ridge.
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