There are some wins that mean a little more when you live in the 98848, and beating Ephrata is usually somewhere on that list. Tuesday night, the Quincy Lady Jacks gave their hometown crowd plenty to celebrate, defeating the rival Ephrata Tigers 4-1 at Jackrabbit Stadium to remain undefeated through the first five matches of the season. Yet the bigger story emerging from rivalry night may not be one victory or even a perfect record. Through five matches, Quincy has outscored its opponents 23-1, and Tuesday offered a closer look at the teamwork, communication and persistence behind those numbers.
TL;DR
Rivalry Win: Quincy defeated Ephrata 4-1 Tuesday night at Jackrabbit Stadium.
Undefeated: The Lady Jacks improved to 5-0 to begin the 2026 season.
23-1: Quincy has scored 23 goals while allowing only one through its first five matches.
Longwill on the Attack: Allanah Longwill scored all three Quincy goals witnessed by Life in the 98848 photographer Sarah Dowlen after she arrived with the match tied 1-1.
Garcia in Goal: Goalkeeper Aylen Garcia (#13) helped Quincy protect the lead as Ephrata created several dangerous opportunities.
Teamwork Stands Out: Quincy’s passing, communication, ball handling and defensive recovery were among the most noticeable parts of Tuesday’s performance.
Home Crowd: A strong Quincy turnout, including an increasingly vocal student section, added to the rivalry atmosphere as the Lady Jacks pulled away.
Up Next: Quincy travels to Brewster Thursday, September 17, for a 4:30 p.m. match.
A Rivalry Match Still Up for Grabs
98848 News photographer Sarah Dowlen arrived after the opening portion of Tuesday’s match with Quincy and Ephrata tied 1-1. At that point, nothing about the game suggested the Lady Jacks were simply going to cruise toward another victory.
In fact, Dowlen’s first impression was that Quincy appeared to be holding back somewhat. The Lady Jacks were not attacking the ball as aggressively as they would later in the match, and Ephrata remained very much in contention. The Tigers created chances throughout the game, including breakaways and near-goals that forced Quincy’s defense and goalkeeper Aylen Garcia to respond.
Then Quincy began finding its rhythm.
“Once Quincy seemed to hit their groove,” Dowlen said, the teamwork became one of the most noticeable parts of their play. Their passing was generally clean and direct, turnovers on passes were limited, and the Lady Jacks seemed increasingly aware of where their teammates were going to be before the ball arrived.
It did not look like a collection of players trying to figure one another out in September. It looked like a team that already knew how to play together.
“They looked like these girls had been playing together for a number of years,” Dowlen said. “Their teamwork was very good.”
Five Matches Tell a Bigger Story
Tuesday’s victory becomes more significant when placed alongside what Quincy has done during the opening weeks of the season.
The Lady Jacks opened September with a 2-0 victory over Moses Lake, followed by an 8-0 win over Chelan and a 6-0 victory against Liberty Bell. Quincy then went on the road and defeated Cascade 3-0 before returning to Jackrabbit Stadium Tuesday for the 4-1 win over Ephrata.
That puts Quincy at 5-0 with 23 goals scored and only one allowed.
Ephrata’s goal Tuesday was the first to get past Quincy all season.
Those numbers help explain the undefeated start, but Tuesday’s match also showed some of what is happening underneath them. Quincy has players with speed and strong ball-handling ability, but Dowlen repeatedly noticed how well the Lady Jacks worked together. Players appeared to understand where teammates were, where the ball needed to go and when opportunities were beginning to develop.
Defensively, Quincy also showed an ability to recover. When Ephrata managed to break through, Lady Jack defenders worked back into position and got themselves between the Tigers and the goal. Garcia, wearing #13 in goal Tuesday, made several strong saves as Ephrata attempted to stay within striking distance. Dowlen also noted that there were a couple of occasions when the result could easily have gone differently, but Garcia and the Quincy defense ultimately kept Ephrata from adding another goal.
The 4-1 final score could make the game sound easier than it was. Ephrata had opportunities, and the Tigers’ goalkeeper made several strong saves of her own that prevented Quincy from adding to the total. The difference was that as the match progressed, Quincy became increasingly effective at turning possession into opportunities.
Longwill Keeps Pushing Forward
Dowlen missed Quincy’s opening goal, but she watched Allanah Longwill account for the next three.
Of those goals, it was Longwill’s final one that stood out most. Dowlen watched her stay with the ball whenever it entered her area of the field, refusing to surrender the play and continuing to push the attack forward.
“She didn’t give it up,” Dowlen said. “She kept pushing forward.”
That persistence reflected something Dowlen noticed across the Quincy lineup. The Lady Jacks communicated and encouraged one another throughout the match. Mistakes and turnovers did not appear to linger. Players went back to work, found the next ball and continued playing.
Dowlen said she would not necessarily describe Quincy as a team that simply “looked undefeated.” What she saw was something more tangible: a group that looked as though it had put in the work necessary to earn those victories.
Five straight wins are impressive. A 23-1 scoring margin gets attention. But those numbers become more interesting when the habits visible on the field begin explaining how they happened.
The Rivalry Was in the Stands, Too
Quincy had a good hometown turnout Tuesday, including families and a sizable student section. Ephrata brought a respectable crowd of its own, giving Jackrabbit Stadium the feel expected when the two communities meet.
Early in the portion of the match Dowlen witnessed, however, the Quincy side was relatively quiet.
That changed along with the game.
As the Lady Jacks began finding their rhythm, the crowd became increasingly involved. The student section started its own cheers, bringing some of the organized energy normally associated with the stands during football season.
Dowlen believes the encouragement made a difference.
“The crowd started cheering some more, and especially the student section started doing their own little cheers,” she said. “I think the encouragement helped the play.”
By the closing minutes, the uncertainty that had accompanied the 1-1 tie was long gone. With roughly two minutes still remaining, the Quincy student section began chanting, “This game’s over.”
This time, the scoreboard agreed.
What This Means to You
High school sports are one of the places where the 98848 gets to watch its young people grow in public. The wins and losses are recorded in the standings, but the development that produces them is often easier to see from the sideline.
Quincy’s 5-0 start deserves attention. So does the fact that the Lady Jacks have allowed only one goal through five matches. But Tuesday’s rivalry victory provided something the season record cannot: a chance to see what this team does when the match is still competitive.
Ephrata had chances. Quincy did not play a flawless game. There were turnovers, dangerous Tiger attacks and moments when Garcia and the Lady Jacks’ defense had to recover. They did.
Then Quincy went back to work.
That may be the most encouraging part of the undefeated start for Quincy supporters. The Lady Jacks are not simply accumulating wins against names on a schedule. At least on Tuesday night, they looked like a team whose players communicate, understand one another and continue working through the less polished portions of a match until opportunities begin to open.
Anyone around the 98848 who has not paid much attention to Lady Jacks soccer yet has 23 reasons to start.
More Than the Final Score
When the final whistle sounded Tuesday night, the rivalry gave way to celebration.
Dowlen captured teammates picking up Longwill and hoisting her into the air after the match, a spontaneous celebration for a player who had helped turn a tied game into a convincing Quincy victory. It was the kind of photograph that says something a standings table cannot: teammates celebrating one another after the work is finished.
Dowlen described the night as feeling like “a great hometown game,” one where the home team had done the work ahead of time and then continued doing the hard work during the match to bring home the win.
Quincy will not have much time to linger over rivalry night. The Lady Jacks travel to Brewster Thursday, September 17, for a 4:30 p.m. match, where they will put that undefeated record on the field again.
Five matches do not tell us how an entire season will unfold, but they can tell us when something is worth watching. The Lady Jacks are 5-0. They have scored 23 times. They have surrendered one goal.
And after sending Ephrata home with a 4-1 loss Tuesday night, the 98848 has another hometown team giving its community a reason to show up and see what happens next.
