The Hope Christian School Eagles improved to 2-0 while cruising to a 44-8 victory over the First Assembly Christian School Lions Aug. 20.

During the game, Hope Christian linebacker Caleb Rettig recorded eight tackles, and fellow Eagles Ryan Gibbens, Brock Boyd, Andrew Bell and Andrew Whitson recorded seven tackles each.

“I saw a lot of good things tonight. Our defense was awesome,” said Hope head coach Mark Rettig. “We had a lot of cramping issues late in the game, so we are going to have to make some adjustments in our halftime.

“We have set some goals for the season, and the first two games have been right where we need to be,” Rettig added. “I expect to see us go all the way to the state championship this year. I know that’s a strong statement early in the season, but we have ample opportunities to do that.”

Rettig praised the Lions, who played their first game ever Friday night, following the game.

“The scoreboard is a fairly inaccurate way to look at the game. They did an excellent job,” Rettig said. “This is their first game ever, and they have got a lot to be proud of. They showed a lot of good hustle.”

The Eagles jumped to a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter when Caleb Douglas reeled in a pass from quarterback Zac Hughes, completing a 15-yard play. The duo then repeated the play to add two more points to the board.

Hope scored again when Terrence Moore reeled in a 25-yard pass in the end zone. A missed two-point conversion put the Eagles up 14-0.

After a botched Lion punt attempt resulted in a fumble, Hughes powered the ball 10 yards in to score. Eric Spence completed the two-point conversion to put the Eagles up 22-0.

Caleb Douglas scored again on a 14-yard play late in the second quarter, and Rettig scored the two-point conversion to bring the score to 30-0.

The Lions scored in the third quarter after Nolan Crawford ran 36 yards into the end zone. Crawford then powered into the end zone again for two points to bring the score to 30-8.

The Eagles answered when Moore completed a 68-yard scoring play to put the Eagles up 36-8.

Moore scored the final points of the game early in the fourth quarter when he ran 39 yards into the end zone. Spence’s two-point conversion brought the game to 44-8.

The Eagles’ next game will be Aug. 27 at Georgia-Alabama Christian School in Phenix City.