Chinooks Get the Bounces, and a Win, Over Napavine

KALAMA — The Tigers had their chances.

Three times in the fourth quarter, with the first rain of the football season falling here at Chinook Stadium, Napavine saw the ball pop out of the hands of a Kalama ball carrier’s hands.

Three times the Tigers went after it. Once, three plays before the game’s last touchdown. And twice in the last three minutes, with the defending State 2B champions backed up in their own territory.

“I don’t know how we don’t get them,” Tiger coach Josh Fay said of the two late fumbles. “The ball didn’t bounce our way. It’s certainly not (a lack of) effort for us not recovering the fumbles. It’s a weird-shaped ball and it bounces funny.”

Late in the game, though, Kalama made the most of the opportunities presented by those funny bounces, holding off Napavine 20-13 in one of the state’s biggest Week 2 matchups in the 2B classification.

Kalama, ranked No. 4 heading into Friday’s game, beat No. 2 Napavine twice last season during an undefeated title run — an overtime win in both teams’ season debut, and again in the state semifinals.

Kalama quarterback Alex Dyer hit 16 of 32 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way, the last a 42-yard strike to Brennon Vance up the right side with 4 minutes, 48 seconds left in the game to increase the Chinooks’ advantage from a point to a touchdown.

That pass, though, was the prolific senior’s most productive play of the evening, and it came on a fourth down play after Dyer had been flushed out of the pocket and taken down at the line of scrimmage.

“I thought we pressured Dyer a lot better than most people do,” Fay said. “A lot of teams have had a hard time doing that, and credit to our three or four guys up front.”

Napavine got both of its touchdowns in the second quarter with the help of big pass plays. Sophomore Cade Evander scored from 48 yards out on a catch-and-run early in the second quarter that put Napavine up 6-0, but Kalama answered with its first touchdown — a 3-yard run by Eljiah Haynes to cap a quick two-minute, six-play drive — and took a 7-6 lead.

The Tigers got back on the board two possessions later. From midfield, Stanley lofted a pass to sophomore Laythan Demarest inside the 10-yard line, only to have the pass bounce off of the intended receiver’s hands, then off a defender’s hands and into the waiting arms of Jared McCollum, who secured a 49-yard completion and was taken down on the 1-yard line.

Stanley then did the honors on the next play, staking Napavine a 13-7 lead.

The 2:36 left before halftime, though, was more than enough time for the Chinooks, and Dyer hit freshman Jackson Esary on a cross route for an 18-yard touchdown and a 14-13 lead.

After halftime, though, Napavine hit a lull. A fumble on the 1-yard line ended one drive, an interception ended the next and the Tigers couldn’t complete a pass in the fourth quarter.

“I think we squandered some good opportunities there, but, you know, our goal is to get better every week,” Fay said. “And if Week 2 is as good as we’re going to be, then we’re not going to be very good.”

Stanley finished with a game-high 114 rushing yards on 25 carries, and went 7 of 19 passing for 128 yards — 97 of which came on the two big second-quarter completions.

“I don’t think that’s his best game. I know he’s a little frustrated, but he’s going to bounce back,” Fay said. “He made some tremendous plays for us. He extended some plays with his legs, he had a couple of big hits defensively, and he’s going to bounce back. He’s going to play better than that, and part of that is give Kalama some credit.”

Haynes finished with 86 yards on 12 carries for Kalama, and Vance had three catches for 75 yards.

“Against a good football team like that, I really liked how our kids battled,” Fay said. “We made some mental mistakes, and we didn’t get some of those breaks, but our kids battled. I couldn’t be happier with that competitive edge they played with.”

Napavine (1-1) plays at Toledo (1-1) on Friday. Kalama (1-1) plays at Adna (2-0) on Friday.