The visiting Northern Eagles were soaring on both sides of the ball Easter Sunday, but fell 19-6 to the Richmond Raiders.
It was the Eagles second-straight loss in the three-team B.C. Football Tier 2 Conference league.
Despite having their wings clipped, head coach Mike Rositano remained upbeat as the team loaded the bus and headed for home after the matinee tilt.
"It was a hard-fought game and Richmond drove the ball well," he said. "We held our heads pretty high and kept fighting for the ball. The offence moved the ball and we played really tough defence. I'm extremely happy."
Raiders marched out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and increased it with 12 more points early in the second quarter, but the Eagles responded.
Jordan Engel scored on a play-action pass engineered by quarterback Duncan Finch who came on in relief of starter Devin Readman.
The Eagles could have scored a three more majors if not for three dropped passes that went off receivers' fingertips.
"We didn't come out flat, we were all wired," said Rositano. "Our guys were extremely solid and fired off all cylinders."
The Raiders suffered some key injuries late in the game and so did the Eagles.
Jason Chesley and linebacker Sterling Cardinal (who made a big defensive play when he stripped the ball from a Raiders' player during the game), suffered concussions. Starting safety Nick Wingfield blew out his knee.
The Eagles were supposed to host the North Delta Longhorns Sunday, April 27 and the Raiders May 4 at Masich Place, but due to the field not being playable, the matches have been pushed back later into May.
The game against North Delta is now rescheduled for May 18.
