MIO AuSABLE - Oct. 16, 2009 - Mio's Thunderbolts are on a roll, and Hale's injury-riddled football team got in the way Friday.

The Eagles, already down several players over the past few weeks, had to make the trip to Mio without starting quarterback Tanner Shellenbarger, who was too sick to play. Coupled with the previous week's injury to rushing leader Eddy Cadwell, the Eagles were going to be up against it no matter how they played.

Throw in seven Hale fumbles, and Mio's 62-7 victory was almost inevitable.

"(We) struggled to do anything offensively," said Hale coach BIll Lake. "Turning the ball over on fumbles was the theme for the night. Mio's very strong offense had a short field to work with all night."

In addition to the turnovers, Hale managed just 41 yards of total offense, including 28 yards rushing on 24 carries.

The Eagles gave up a 55-yard punt return to K.C. Fox and short touchdown runs to Aaron Smith and Garret Price in the first quarter, but managed to stay in the game until late in the second quarter.

Christian Mudry returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to cut the Mio lead to 24-7, and the Eagles were on the move before fumbling the ball away.

The Thunderbolts took advantage of the Eagles' generosity by scoring two touchdowns in the final 20 seconds of the half to open up a 38-7 lead. Zac Pillars did the honors with a 1-yard run, and Grant Price hit Jake Irelan with a 21-yard pass on the final play of the half.

Fox had a 32-yard touchdown catch and a 20-yard touchdown run in the second half. Smith added a 5-yard score in the third quarter.

Zac Bills led Mio with 90 yards on 11 carries, with Smith adding 77 yards on 10 carries and Price adding 75 yards on 10 carries.  Grant Price was 5-of-18 passing for 88 yards.

Mudry finished with 112 all-purpose yards to lead Hale, including 92 yard on a pair of interception returns, a team-leading 13 yards rushing on his one carry and one pass reception for seven yards. Casey Shuman had 10 tackles and Cadwell had nine for the Eagles.

Mio improved to 6-2 (4-1 NSL) with the win and hosts Suttons Bay (6-2) in its regular-season finale.

Hale (3-5, 3-1) plays at Hillman (6-2, 4-0) and can create a three-way tie for the NSL title with the Tigers and Mio with a win.

"Hopefully," Lake said, "we can get healthy and can represent ourselves the best we can."