ST. IGNATIUS  — All things considered, Mission center Zane Foster had a pretty good night for a lineman.

Not only was he part of homecoming royalty. Not only was he part of a 40-13 homecoming victory over Thompson Falls, the first win over the Bluehawks in nine years, but the lineman got to touch the rock.

On a kickoff return in the second half, Foster made a few speed bumps out of the Bluehawks special team players in a short, but spectacular, return. It was the perfect analogy for the a night where the Bulldogs ran straight over Thompson Falls.

“We work hard every day,” Foster said of the line. “And the running backs run hard.”

Senior running back Chris McKay ran exceptionally hard, piling up 104 yards in the game.

“Whoever’s got Mission to play yet, I would most definitely game up because they’re a solid team that’ll come out and just punch you in the mouth,” Bluehawk head coach Doug Padden said.

The Bulldogs are out to disprove preseason polls the District 7-B.

“We’re making a statement,” Mission head coach Peter Hamilton said. “These kids want to make a statement, don’t pick us to finish last in the conference.”

It was hard to ignore the performance of the line that helped pick up several one-yard conversions on fourth downs and was also responsible for two short yardage runs to the endzone by sophomore quarterback Dylan Evans, and one-yard scoring runs by junior back Austin Durglo and freshman quarterback Ryce Hegwood.

“I put a lot of pride in it [the running game],” Foster said. “Me and Dylan were in daycare together.”

The win was Mission’s first homecoming win in six years.

“It is very emotional,” Foster said. “I can’t tell you the last time we won homecoming.”

Hamilton praised the play of his four seniors so far this season: end Dakota Matt, running backs Lane Wheeler and Mauro Grosso and Foster.

“My four seniors are some of the most inspirational players I have,” Hamilton said.

Gilliard scored on a 40-yard run in the third quarter to solidify a contest that was still in question.

“We’re improving ten fold from the first game,” Hamilton said. “We’re going to be scary to play.”

Mission travels to play Eureka at 7 p.m. on Friday.