By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Hope Christian School continued to dominate its opposition Sept. 17, downing the visiting New Life Christian Academy Eagles 48-8 in eight-man football action.

Hope racked up 393 yards of total offense in the win, and quarterback Zac Hughes completed nine of 16 pass attempts for 191 yards.

Hope’s defensive standouts were Andrew Whitson, with 10 tackles, Caleb Rettig with nine tackles, Jacob Medders with eight and Brock Boyd with seven.

“We came out like we should have tonight,” said Hope head coach Mark Rettig. “Our boys earned a win tonight. They have a lot to be proud of.

“The other team was very well-coached, and they were very well-disciplined,” Rettig added. “They had several guys injured, so the scoreboard wasn’t an accurate depiction of how well they really played.”

Hope jumped on top 8-0 in its first possession of the game, when Caleb Rettig ran into the end zone from 2 yards out. Hughes added the two-point conversion.

But New Life answered in the second quarter, tying the game at 8-all with a touchdown and two-point conversion.

Hope scored again in the second quarter, when Hughes connected with Terrence Moore on a 65-yard touchdown pass.

Following a fumble recovery, Hope added to its lead with an 8-yard Hughes touchdown run, giving the home team a 28-8 halftime lead.

Hughes scored again in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run.

Hughes then connected with Caleb Douglas on a 3-yard touchdown pass, and again with Charles Streets for the two-point conversion, bringing the score to 42-8 at the end of the third quarter.

Hope extended its lead to 48-8 in the fourth quarter, when Eric Spence scored on a 39-yard touchdown run.

Hope will face a home test against Tabernacle Christian Sept. 24.

“These next few weeks will be our tougher games,” Rettig said. “But our guys are getting more and more focused every week.”