They finished third with a 4-5 record in the 2B North Central Washington Conference last year and lost out to Brewster in a cross-over playoff game. But Soap Lake Eagles coach Joe Worsham can't wait to get back on the field as Soap Lake is dropping down a classification and will be playing 8-man football in the 1B Bi-County Northeast Conference this season.

"We are excited about playing in the 8-man football league. The competition level will be great and our

players will have fun playing the game" Worsham, now in his third season at the helm of the Soap Lake program, said. "Since we have some speed and some athleticism, we feel we can be very competitive."

Eight-man football isn't foreign to Soap Lake as the school played it up to the early 90s. In fact, the Eagles last trip to the state playoffs was as an eight-man team in 1984.

Nor is the game foreign to Worsham who coached at Pateros for 21 years prior to taking the job at Soap Lake or his assistant coach Myron Kramer, the former head coach at Odessa High School.

"We do bring a lot of experience to the 8-man scheme," Worsham said. "We've been to nine state championships games between the two of us."

Worsham said he talked with his guys about the transition and wanted to get across the message that dropping down a classification to play 8-man is not a knock on the team's talent or skill level.

"I told them it's like playing fast break football," he said " We still have to block and have to be more fundamentally sound tackling the ball carrier because if you miss an open field tackle, it's off to the races for the other team."

Sound tackling is the No.1 priority if the Eagles expect to contend with the likes of 1B Bi-County league powerhouses Almira/Coulee-Hartline (ACH) and Odessa-Harrington High School.

Both have made it an annual habit of battling for the conference and district titles and are frequent participants in the state playoffs year after year.

But Soap Lake will have to do without Daniel Shtyba who led the Eagles with 118 tackles last season.

They are also going to have to put a lot of points on the board to keep pace with the Warriors and Tigers high octane offenses.

That could be a tough order in 2012 as the Eagles lost a big chunk of their offensive production to graduation this year.

Gone are Second Team All-League starting quarterback Alex Coreas who accounted for 1,383 total yards and 14 touchdowns, and First Team All-League wider receiver and defensive back Anthony King who set an all-time Eagle record with 43 receptions while playing part of the year with a broken thumb.

"We do have some holes to fill so we'll be counting on people to step in and do a good job for us," Worsham said. "Our top prospect at QB is junior Dustin Foster who started several games last season, so he has some experience. Neo Galicia and David Odarchuk will be our top running backs. They are both juniors who run hard and are talented ball carriers. Our top linemen will be sophomore Josh Decker, junior Harley Price and senior David Babak. Others who will play integral roles this season are senior Cody Landers, sophomores Julio Gomez and Jared Bessett, and freshmen Joe Cutshall and Caleb McMillan."

A late scratch from the team Worsham was also counting on to make a big contribution this season was senior captain Jordon Korolak who was a Second Team All-League receiver and defensive back.

"Jason took a trip to Georgia this summer and has decided to stay there with his mother and concentrate on baseball," Worsham said. "That is going to be a big loss for us, but we wish him well."

Soap Lake does have the other team captain and First Team All-League senior Jason Korneychuk returning to anchor the Eagles defensive line.

The strength of this year's team Worsham said is athleticism.

"We have great athletes both offensively and defensively who have the ability to both run and pass effectively," he said. "One weakness we have will be depth (as usual) at every position and our ability to block and tackle. If we can become more skillful at blocking and tackling, this could become strength for us."

The Eagles will need solid play on both sides of the ball if they expect to reach their goal of having a winning season and making the state playoff.

If anyone can turn the team into a contender in 8-man football, it's Worsham and assistant coach Kramer who bring years of experience to the game.

The Eagles were tested early, but had a difficult time against last year's state runner-up as Soap Lake dropped its home opener 54-22 to Almira/Coulee-Hartline Aug. 31.

Soap Lake gets a chance to right the ship Friday when the team takes to the road to match up with Touchet in a nonleague contest.