B.C. Eagles ready to be on home turf

By Brent Hinckley

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 | 1:13 p.m.

Boulder City High’s football team is anxious to don its new uniforms in front of the home crowd for the first time this season at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 as they host River Valley High of Mohave, Ariz.

“I’m just looking forward to everyone showing up,” Boulder City junior linebacker Steven Kaposta said. “Our crowd hasn’t seen a lot of wins the last couple of years and we want to come out with one for them.”

Kaposta feels a solid performance by the defense could key a victory.

“We need to stay focused and not take it easy,” Kaposta said. “If we do that there’s a good chance we’ll put the beatdown on them.”

Boulder City coach Alex Kazel, entering his first home game as the Eagles coach, is hoping the offense will catch up to the defense in time for the opener. The offense has only scored 21 points this season, compared to the defense which has scored 20 points.

“They need to pick up the pace now and come out and attack River Valley’s defense. There is no reason they shouldn’t,” Kazel said.

Boulder City comes in off a 21-6 win at Mohave High in Bullhead City, Ariz. on Sept. 5. It was also the Eagles first road victory since Oct. 6, 2006 — a 15-13 win at Legacy.

The defense is riding high after forcing three turnovers against Mohave, holding the Thunderbirds to six points and 244 total yards and recording six sacks.

“The defense flew around the ball,” Kazel said. “Coach (Alex) Moore came up with a great game plan. They executed and did a great job.”

Mohave quarterback Tyler Fox was 2-of-15 for 31 yards with three interceptions.

“We pressured the quarterback all night,” Kazel said. “He’s going to be having dreams of Kaposta.”

Kaposta had four sacks to highlight the Eagles defense, one of which resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown by junior defensive tackle John Garlinghouse late in the fourth quarter.

“It was a good way to come out and help the team out intensity-wise. It was a nice bounce back from a bad week,” Kaposta said referring to the 48-20 loss to Basic on Aug. 29

The Eagles first touchdown came in the closing minutes of the second quarter when senior quarterback Jake Phillips connected with senior half back Jeremy Smith on a 23 yard pass, giving Boulder City a 7-0 lead.

Mohave came back in the second quarter and scored their only touchdown of the game, but senior defensive end Alex Dillon blocked the extra point.

Phillips scored Boulder City’s next touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard quarterback keeper and the Eagles converted the 2-point conversion for a 15-6 advantage.

“That’s what you’re supposed to do. They score, you come right back and answer,” Kazel said.

The final score came on Garlinghouse’s interception return.

“It was a fitting end to the game for the defense to score after the way they played,” Kazel said. “I was pleased. They did a great job.”

Also, Boulder City’s junior varsity squad beat Mohave 22-0, while the freshmen were victorious 44-20.