2B Football: Fay, Pirates Dump Davenport in State Opener

ADNA — The third-place team in a five-team league traditionally finds itself in tight situations when the postseason rolls around.

For Adna, though, the first two weeks of the playoffs have felt more like a cool-down lap.

The Pirates, the No. 3 team in the SWW 2B League Mountain Division, followed up a 54-14 crossover dismantling of Ocosta with a 51-7 win over Davenport here Saturday afternoon to advance to the State 2B quarterfinals.

“It’s been nice. We played such a tough division and schedule anyway, and we play that for a reason,” Adna coach K.C. Johnson said. “We know we might get beat early in some games, but look at Toledo (which beat No. 7 Colfax) today. You play in this league, in this division, and it makes a difference.”

The difference was clear from the outset. Despite giving up a few pounds on the line, the Pirates held Davenport to 37 rushing yards in the first half and led 27-0 after a quarter.

Cole Fay was a big part of that, capping Adna’s first drive with a 20-yard touchdown — the first of four on the day for the senior running back — on a screen pass from Braden Thomas.

“We knew they were big up front, and they had some pretty slippery running backs,” Fay said, “but I felt like our D-line really stepped up tonight.”

The opening score wasn’t Fay’s most impressive touchdown of the afternoon, however. That came a few minutes later, when he fielded a Gorilla punt, read the field, and carted it 65 yards to the end zone.

“I’ve got to feel it out a little bit,” he said of punt returns. “We have a call for what side it’s supposed to go to, but if I don’t see it I’ll go the other way. But I let it develop, and it worked.”

He added a 22-yard scoring run four minutes later, and Thomas broke free on a 36-yard run to wrap the first-quarter scoring.

Fay added his fourth score on a 39-yard run to open the second quarter, and Thomas tossed a 45-yard touchdown to a wide-open Ryan Young midway through the second frame that put the Pirates up 39-0 at the break.

Fay finished with nine carries for 113 yards, and added three catches for 30 yards. Thomas went 6 of 10 passing for 105 yards and two touchdowns, and ran five times for 60 yards with two scores.

“Cole was huge,” Johnson said. “You know coming in everybody's going to try to stop Cole and Braden, and when they can still score and do their thing with that, you’ve got to feel good.”

Thomas added a 30-yard run in the third quarter put Adna up 45-0 and activated the 40-point running clock.

With the subs in shortly thereafter, Tristan Ridley added a 4-yard touchdown run for Adna, and Davenport backup quarterback Evan Gunning connected with sophomore tight end Jarrett Jacobsen for a 67-yard touchdown with eight minutes left to play.

Davenport (6-5) finished second in the Northeast 2B League North Division, and beat Liberty 36-14 in the crossover round to reach the state playoffs, where they were given the No. 12 seed.

Adna (7-3) will now head across the mountains to face Chewelah (7-4), the NE2BL North champion. The Cougars beat Tonasket, 36-7, in the opening round on Friday.

“We’ve come a long way,” Johnson said. “We’re healthy, which is huge. It took us until about Week 7 to finally get every kid we’ve got on the field together, and we’re playing good football.”

The time and location of the Pirates’ state quarterfinal match has yet to be determined, though the game is likely to be played Saturday at either Gonzaga Prep High School or Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.