ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - The Pleasant Grove Eagles are soaring high. Head coach Josh Crabtree and his squad are undefeated and have yet to surrender a single point this season after their 40-0 win over the Tokay Tigers at home. 

Before the matchup, the National Anthem included a fly-over thanks to the father of senior wide receiver Cody Nydeggar, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, to kick off the Eagles’ homecoming game. 

With the Tigers taking on newly added Delta League opponent the Laguna Creek Cardinals the previous week for a losing score of 62-40, Crabtree said he told his team that looking at MaxPreps doesn’t tell the whole story of that team. 

“I've been ringing bells, sounding alarms all week with my guys like, ‘Hey, don’t think that MaxPreps tells the whole story of that team,’ They got some good football players, they got a good coaching staff and to be honest with you, I was concerned coming into this game,” Crabtree said. 

Coming into this game, the Eagles’ senior quarterback Cole Davis was the leader in passing yards in the whole CIF Sac-Joaquin Section with a total of 554 yards, good for 26 completions on 34 attempts and five touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. 

Not only are the Eagles a threat in the air on offense, but senior running back Bobby Mitchell is also an offensive threat. The previous week against the Lodi Flames, he had three touchdowns on a total of 14 carries as he rushed for a total of 82 yards. 

“I brought them up in my first year as the head football coach here two years ago; they were sophomores, and they've paid their dues,” Crabtree said. “It’s fun for me to watch them flourish and have success. It makes it easier to call plays when you don’t have to hide one, run the ball or throw the ball. It’s a great situation for us.” 

Not only does Crabtree praise the results on the field, but he described both Davis and Mitchell as unselfish and great leaders.  

The Eagles got downfield with Davis connecting with his receivers and Mitchell’s running game to culminate in a touchdown for Mitchell, the first of two he would have along with a total of 141 yards rushing on 12 carries. 

With no hesitation, Crabtree went for the two-point conversion to put them up 8-0, the first of two conversions from senior Jacob Beals, which would later give them a 16-0 lead. 

“He’s (Beals) a tough kid to tackle, so they had bodies there but he’s a slippery kid, so we like the numbers advantage and we took it twice and those are big-momentum plays,” Crabtree said. “When you look up at the scoreboard and it says 16-0 as opposed to 14, it’s two points, but psychologically, it’s bigger than that.”

The offense kept piling on as Davis would go on to throw for 170 yards with two touchdowns to receivers Nydeggar and senior Jack Maddox to go on to put 40 points on the board. 

The Tigers could not put anything together offensively due to the Eagles’ lockdown defense for their third straight shutout of the young season. 

“We’ve been on a run where we’ve had some good play and some good luck,” Crabtree said. “Shutouts are rare and to have three in a row is a credit to the kids. It’s a credit to my defensive staff. I love looking at a zero underneath an opponent’s name.” 

Standouts on defense for Crabtree on the night were Maddox Ali, an All-League player for the Eagles last season, and Roman Patterson. 

This year marks 24 years of coaching for Crabtree, who said this is one of the best group he’s ever coached.  

“I’ve coached teams that had six or seven scholarship kids on it, I coached at the college level for a while, but this group of kids are just amazing kids,” Crabtree said. 

There’s one game left in the Eagles’ schedule before they begin their Delta League schedule, and they’ll be looking to adjust as they allowed too many penalties against the Tigers, Crabtree said. 

“We had a bunch of penalties tonight which were out of character for us. There’s a lot of little things and we were fortunate that we had a bit of a lead, but we can't continue to do that so there’s plenty for us to work on,” Crabtree said. 

The Eagles didn’t align properly a couple of times on defense and there was a delay of game among other things that even erased some touchdowns off the board due to penalties. 

The last opponent for the Eagles before league play is the Lincoln Trojans, who are currently 1-2 overall this season. The Eagles will travel to Stockton for what Crabtree said will be a big challenge for them. 

“They bring a ton of talent to the table. Their running back could be the best running back in the whole section so it’s going to be a huge challenge for us,” Crabtree said. 

“That coaching staff does a good job and they have tons of athletes. Their quarterback can run and throw.”