The Fighting Beavers of Falls City lived up to their reputation as being one of the better small school football programs in South Texas on Friday night as they rolled over the visiting Pettus Eagles 41-3.

“Falls City was very strong. They executed well and were very tough on defense,” said Eagle head coach Steve Marbach.

“We did a few good things on offense, and our defense adjusted well in the second half.”

The Beavers jumped out to an early lead and were never threatened. The home team had three touchdowns on the scoreboard before the end of the first quarter for a 20-0 lead.

Freshman kicker Ryan Beck made good on a second quarter field goal of 26 yards to get the Eagles on the scoreboard. It was a 20-3 game with most of the second period yet to play.

Falls City got two more TD’s midway through the second quarter on a couple of long scoring strikes. Running back Kyle Johnson ran for a 40-yard score with 7:55 left in the first half. The Beavers struck right back with their second TD of the quarter with 29-yard pass play to make it a 35-3 game.

That score held up the rest of the first half to take the teams into the locker rooms with the Beavers in front easily, 35-3.

The second half was a much slower paced ball game. The Eagle defense stiffened with a few halftime adjustments, slowing down the Beaver running game to some extent.

Fall City scored on a 25-yard run from Cody Swierc in the third quarter and that was all the scoring in the contest. The final was 41-3 with the always tough, fighting Beavers earning the win.

The Falls City offense gained 511 yards on offense with 415 of that coming on the ground. The Eagles could manage only 20 yards rushing and quarterbacks Aaron Escamilla hit for 91 yards on nine of 14 attempts while Beck completed five of 10 throws for 28 yards.

Reyes Cruces hauled in three passes for 50 yards. Justin Duran had one reception for 33 yards and C.J. Gill caught four passes for 14 yards. Tim Gill had one catch for 12 yards and Michael Perkins made good on two catches for nine yards.

The Eagles will host the Runge Yellowjackets this Friday night with both teams still looking for their first district win.

“Runge is a young, up-and-coming team. They’re hungry for a win and will be a tough challenge on Friday,” Marbach said.

“We will have to play a more consistent game on both sides of the ball in order to get our first district win.”

The kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at James V. Beauchamp Stadium.