By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Hope Christian Eagles improved to 5-0 on the season on Sept. 13 by downing the visiting Ezekiel Academy Knights 54-33 in eight-man football action.

The Eagles recorded 428 total yards, 369 of which came on the ground.

Offensively, Reid Allen recorded 243 rushing yards on 15 carries, followed by Nick Ray, who recorded 37 yards on eight carries and Ben Friedlander, who racked up 35 yards on 11 carries.

Defensive standouts were Jonathan Misso, who recorded 10 tackles, Ryan Shealey with five tackles and Houston Daily with four tackles.

“They really seemed to gel tonight,” said Hope head coach Tony Nafe. “We get better every week, we get stronger every week and their confidence grows every week.”

Hope had four first-quarter touchdowns: One on a 5-yard pass from Allen to Dillon Thompson, one on an Allen 26-yard run, another on a Misso interception return for a touchdown and one on an Allen 46-yard run.

In the second quarter, Allen scored a touchdown on a 37-yard run and Thompson found Cameron Barnett for a two-point conversion. Allen also connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass for a touchdown.

Barnett returned an interception 64 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. Allen connected with Cannon Fuqua for a 5-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, and Allen scored the last points of the game on a 50-yard touchdown run.