Eudora ? In a game where three of the Tonganoxie High soccer team’s top offensive threats found the net at least twice, senior Bradley Willis had more than his fair share of trouble.

The Chieftains survived the forward’s early inability to finish, defeating Eudora, 10-0, Tuesday afternoon at EHS.

Even if Willis had whacked in one of his early opportunities, it probably would not have helped Tongie (2-3-1) apply the mercy rule any faster than it did — midway through the second half — but he undoubtedly would have saved some face from a group of teasing teammates.

“They were giving me a lot of (stuff) from the bench,” Willis said, smiling. “But that’s OK. I probably deserved it.”

As would his second-half goal, considering that it came after at least a half dozen “great scoring opportunities.”

While THS teammates Chris Colon, Kirk Rodell and Travis Schultz were in a personal race to see who would be the first to tally a hat trick, as each had two goals by halftime, Willis was left shaking his head in wonder.

“We kept passing him the ball, and he kept missing,” quipped Schultz, who was the first to score three goals, but eventually was passed by Colon’s four-score performance.

Willis missed to the left on a breakaway, then missed right on a breakaway. He had what seemed like a sure score go skidding out of bounds when he slid into Eudora’s goalie.

Even his most acrobatic shot — a bicycle kick early in the second half — barely missed above the bar.

Tonganoxie's Kirk Rodell, left, battles for position against Eudora's Ryan Hartford. Rodell scored two goals in the Chieftains' 10-0 victory Tuesday at Eudora.

Finally, a little more than 50 minutes into the second half, Willis had something to talk about.

He stole the ball from a pair of Cardinals defenders, juked between them and flicked a shot sideways into the EHS net.

“I’m not really a scorer as much as I am a passer,” Willis said, again trying to hide a smile. “But it felt pretty good to finally get that goal.”

Tonganoxie coach Luke Denney also had fun poking fun at Willis, but said that the best part of Tuesday’s lopsided victory was that his team regained a little confidence it had lost in a 5-0 loss to Mill Valley on Monday.

“I think this kind of game can only help us going into a big game with Bonner Springs on Thursday,” Denney said. “While there were a few things that we didn’t quite get right today, it was just good to see the kids out there having a good time and playing with some renewed confidence.”