The season is officially two-thirds of the way done, and the league standings are getting more and more clear.
Well, most of them are. The SWW 2B League Mountain and Coastal divisions are about what everyone expected; the Evergreen 2A Conference is fairly top-heavy; the 1A Evergreen League is predictable. And the River Division is still sort of the football equivalent of a bunch of cats trying to climb out of an old grain sack or something.
Here’s the breakdown.
EvCo: Tumwater and W.F. West are the top tier. The Bearcats have scored 50 or more in three of their last four games and hung up gaudy numbers on everyone in running out to a 6-0 record. With Tumwater, Centralia and Aberdeen left on the schedule, it looks like this week’s Tumwater/W.F. West game in Chehalis is the de facto league championship. The problem? Tumwater’s won the last nine games, and the last time the Bearcats beat the Thunderbirds was 2009. The cumulative score of the last three games is 114-10 in Tumwater’s favor.
Beyond the top two, things are a mess. Centralia beat Black Hills but lost to Aberdeen, so the Tigers are in the mix in the bottom half of the standings with a good shot at the postseason.
1A Evergreen: Hoquiam and Montesano are fighting for the league title and ranked 5th and 6th, respectively, on the EvansRankings board. They play Friday, which should wrap this one up in a nice little package.
Mountain Division: No. 1 Napavine and No. 2 Onalaska play Friday night. The winner has the inside track to the league title and, given the Mountain Division’s strength, a better-than-good chance at the top seed in the state playoffs. Adna and Rainier both look locked into crossover berths, but either team would be the favorite in its respective crossover matchup.
River Division: Kalama’s the top team. That much, we know. Beyond that? Toledo, probably, is No. 2, but Winlock upsetting the rival Indians and stealing the No. 2 spot isn’t the wildest prediction out there. Wahkiakum’s 2-0, but those wins are against Mossyrock and Toutle Lake — and the Toutle Lake win had a 7-6 final score, which means a 2B game came down to a PAT. Is it alright to pull for Winlock, Wahkiakum and Toledo winding up in a three-way coin toss? That sounds like the kind of chaos I can get behind.
Coastal Division: The preseason favorite was Pe Ell-Willapa Valley, and that’s still an appealing pick. The Titans, however, are banged up and without quarterback Logan Walker and running back Peter Hamilton, among others. And they’ve got 6-0 Ocosta breathing down their necks. Granted, the Wildcats haven’t played any powerhouses, but they should provide a little resistance for the Titans on their march to what would be yet another Coastal Division title.
Fantasy Football Roundup
Ashton Haight’s back on top, folks. Haight got 35 carries on Friday night and ran for a ridiculous 349 yards and five touchdowns, despite taking a chunk of the fourth quarter off against the Mountaineers.
Rainier didn’t fare well in that battle of the trenches, giving up close to 500 rushing yards and managing just two itself, but the Mountaineers are at their best when quarterback Mikey Green is playing backyard football and ducking around outside the pocket — which they showed in flashes on Friday.
But, when the Logger line is giving Haight a little room to rumble he’s one of the best in the state at turning an inch into a yard and a foot into a first down. Can they find those inches and feet against Napavine this week? … That’s a rhetorical question, I don’t really know. I guess we’ll see.
Anyway, here’s this week’s fantasy football roundup.
Quarterbacks
1. Josiah Johnson, W.F. West (44 points). Johnson ran for 142 yards and four touchdowns, and passed for 69 yards and a score against Rochester.
2. Bryce Cline, Winlock (32 points). Cline ran for 135 yards and passed for 82 yards with a touchdown each way, along with a pair of conversions in a win over Mossyrock.
3. Laythan Demarest, Napavine (29 points). Demarest passed for 342 yards and four touchdowns against Morton-White Pass.
4. Mikey Green, Rainier (25 points). Green had two passing touchdowns and 193 yards, and a rushing touchdown, with a conversion both ways against Onalaska.
5. Duke Schaplow, Toledo (20 points). Schaplow ran for 135 yards and a score against Kalama, with 38 passing yards.
6. Lucas Kreger, Onalaska (18 points). Kreger ran for 54 yards and a touchdown and threw for 47 yards and a score, with a conversion run, in a win over the Mountaineers.
7. Landon Hawes, Rochester (14 points). Hawes passed for 152 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Bearcats.
8. Cameron Erickson, Centralia (8 points). Erickson had 110 passing yards and a touchdown against the Wolves.
Running Backs
1. Ashton Haight, Onalaska (66 points). Haight ran 35 times for 349 yards, with five touchdowns and a conversion, in a win over Rainier.
2. Gavin Parker, Napavine (32 points). Parker ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns in a blowout of MWP.
3. Chase Sobolesky-Reynolds, Centralia (30 points). Sobolesky-Reynolds ran for 186 yards, added 63 receiving yards, and scored a touchdown as the Tigers beat Black Hills.
4. Nolan Swofford, Winlock (22 points). Swofford had 60 rushing yards, 45 receiving yards, and two touchdowns against the Vikings.
5. Max Smith, PWV (19 points). Smith ran for 71 yards with two touchdowns against Baker City, Ore.
6. Braidyn Hoyt, Centralia (15 points). Hoyt ran for two touchdowns and 38 yards against Black Hills.
7. Logan Hall, Winlock (13 points). Hall ran for 78 yards and a touchdown against Mossyrock.
8. Jaiyden Camoza, W.F. West (12 points). Camoza scored a pair of touchdowns against Rochester.
9. Cade Lawrence, Onalaska (11 points). Lawrence ran for 55 yards and a touchdown against Rainier.
Wide Receivers
1. Cade Evander, Napavine (24 points). Evander picked up 121 receiving yards with two touchdowns against MWP in Randle.
2. Bodey Smith, Rochester (17 points). Smith caught three passes for 117 yards and a touchdown against W.F. West.
3. Lucas Dahl, Napavine (13 points). Dahl had 77 receiving yards with a touchdown against MWP.
4. Brody Klein, Rainier (12 points). Klein had 69 receiving yards and a touchdown against Onalaska.
5. Kayden Allison, Onalaska (10 points). Allison had all 47 receiving yards for Onalaska, with a touchdown, against Rainier.
Kickers
1. Bryce Laufenberg, W.F. West (10 points). Laufenberg kicked 10 PATs — that’s a wild number — against Rochester, connecting on each of them.
