HALE - Sep. 18, 2009 - Hale's football team evened its record at 2-2 Friday and improved to 2-0 in North Star League action as the Eagles defeated Atlanta 20-7.

The Eagles combined stingy defense with an unusually prolific passing offense to keep the Huskies at bay for most of the contest. Atlanta's lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter after a bad snap gave the Huskies possession inside the Hale 10.

Otherwise, it was a night of celebration for Hale, which christened its new stands and press box and celebrated its 50th season of football.

"We were stifling on defense," said Hale coach Bill Lake. "I thought we held Atlanta under 100 yards, and their coach said it might have been 75. At any rate, we played great, though we were pretty undisciplined in terms of penalties."

Hale opened the scoring with a 4-yard second quarter run by Kevin Rehil, who still wasn't at full strength after an injury suffered the previous week.

Rehil didn't play in the second half, but the Eagles went to the air.

"We had all sorts of injury problems," Lake said. "We had to change things up a bit, and it worked out pretty well."

Tanner Shellenbarger hit Christian Mudry with a 30-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter and with a 14-yard scoring strike in the third.

Shellenbarger finished 9-of-11 for 136 yards, with Mudry making eight catches for 115 yards.

Christian Moody added one catch for 26 yards.

Eddy Cadwell led the rushing attack with 68 yards on 13 carries, with Rehil adding 64 yards on 15 carries.

Cadwell had 11 tackles, John Hamilton added nine and Ben Stoll had eight.

Lake added that the improvements to Hale's field make it, in his opinion, the most fan-friendly location to watch a game in the league.

"The press box is gorgeous," he said. "And the stands are right there on the field, since we don't have our track there. They're nice and high, so everyone really has a great seat.

"The boosters and everyone who came together to work on it did a beautiful job."

Hale hosts Alcona (2-2) on Friday, Sept. 25.