The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Photo: Blocker Nathan Cothren (77) leads Mule ballcarrier Austin Good on a running play against Pe Ell. Photo courtesy of Wendy Blix.

In the tale of two halves, the Wahkiakum Mules defeated the Pe Ell Trojans 28-18 last Friday.

The 4-0 Mules led 28-6 at halftime; the Trojans came to life in the second half and made it a game.

"It was a tale of two halves," said Mule Coach Eric Hansen. "We won the first; they won the second. We need to play better this week."

The Mules got on the scoreboard first with a five-yard touchdown run by Lars Blix. Peter Weiler kicked the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The Mules went up 13-0 on a five-yard run by Austin Good; the kick failed.

Pe Ell responded with a five-yard touchdown run by 220 lb. Devin Topelt. The conversion kick failed, leaving the Mules up 13-6.

The Mules piled up 58 yards rushing in the quarter on eight carries; receivers caught five of six Blix passes for another 63 yards for 121 yards in the quarter.

The trend continued in the second quarter. The Mules ran the ball 12 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns, and receivers caught all seven of Blix's passes for 125 yards.

Travis Wegdahl scored on a six-yard run mid-way through the quarter, and Good closed out the Mule scoring on a six yard run with a two-point conversion for the Mules' 28-6 halftime lead.

Pe Ell controlled the second half and scored twice in the fourth quarter to cut the Mules' final winning margin.

Overall, the Mules gained 143 yards on 33 rushes and 208 yards on 15 passes. Blix ran the ball 12 times for 51 yards and completed 15 of 19 passes with no interceptions. Steven Doumit gained 34 yards on seven runs; Good had 14 yards, Peter Weiler 19, Wegdahl 11 and Mason Mackey 11.

Good caught six passes for 113 yards; Weiler and Wegdahl each had two completions for 22 yards apiece; Doumit caught two for seven yards, and Kohl Bergseng and Seth Doumit caught passes of four and 14 yards, respectively.

On defense, Mackey led in tackles with seven and five assists; Nathan Cothren had 7/1, Mitchel Dault 5/3, Bubba Calvert 4/3, and Blix 4/2. Good intercepted a Trojan pass and recovered a fumble; Cothren recovered a fumble, and Dault sacked the Trojan quarterback.

Pe Ell gained 99 yards on the ground and completed 10 passes for 193 yards.

The Trojans were called for one five-yard penalty; the Mules had five penalties for 45 yards.

The Mules entertain the Onalaska Loggers this Friday in the Mule Homecoming Football Game. Onalaska returns to Class 2B after spending years in the Class1A level. They've had a rough welcome in the Central League and sport a 1-3 record. They lost 55-0 last week to Morton/White Pass.