For the fourth time this season, W.F. West will take the field against an undefeated opponent.
The Bearcats host a nonleague homecoming game on Friday against a Kelso squad that, led by former Centralia coach Steve Amrine, has rung up a 5-0 record this season and is allowing just 9.4 points a game.
“I think the defense has kind of been what they’re hanging their hat on in the early part of the year,” Bearcat coach Bob Wollan said, “but offensively they seem to be getting better. … They can run it, their quarterback can run it, and throw it. They’re growing into a real solid team.”
The Hilanders are coming off of a 34-12 win over Fort Vancouver that sealed a playoff berth. First-year quarterback A.J. Hoggatt completed 9 of 11 passes for 158 yards and four touchdowns — all to different receivers — in the first half alone, the longest of which was a 78-yard score by Sonny Chhim.
Running back Jerson Flores ran eight times for 86 yards, and while the air attack was on display against Fort Vancouver, the Hilanders’ hard-nosed running game is their bread and butter — though, on both sides of the ball, a stout front line leads the way.
“The one thing about Kelso, it’s always going to be a physical game,” Wollan said. “Their front seven or eight, they’ve been giving up minimal yards rushing all year.”
W.F. West, meanwhile, had its most successful outing of the year from an offensive standpoint, moving the ball well and scoring 21 points against an undefeated Black Hills team.
“The turnover situation has hurt us the last three weeks, but we’re starting to really move the ball,” Wollan said. “We’re creating a little more balance in our offense, and just kind of figuring out who we are, and what’s going to work and what’s not going to work.”
Part of that has to do with the return of All-League running back Nathan Anglin, who missed the first three games of the season with an ankle injury and saw only minimal action on offense in the fourth.
“We’re learning how to use him and (running back Austin) Emery and (quarterback) Elijah (Johnson) a little more, just to make sure they all get their touches and create those threats for our opponents,” Wollan said.
Defensively, the main issue has been giving up big plays and getting off the field on third down, Wollan said.
“Hopefully we just keep growing defensively, especially on our back end, where we’ve kind of been decimated by injuries this year,” he added.
The Bearcats, missing a handful of skill players to injury already, will also be without 6-foot-7, 290-pound defensive lineman Hunter Arredondo and junior linebacker Kolby Steen on Friday. Arredondo underwent wrist surgery on Wednesday, while Steen has been ruled out with a back injury.
“If you really want to watch defense the last five weeks, he’s been unbelievable,” Wollan said of Steen. “That’s going to be a big hit for us, but we’ll move it around and take it from there and see what happens.”
Note: The combined record of W.F. West’s first six opponents, after five weeks, is 21-9; two of the Bearcats’ three losses have come to still-undefeated teams (Olympic and Black Hills). The other came to 4A West Valley (Yakima).
Tumwater at Centralia
Centralia’s athletic department had originally scheduled its homecoming festivities for Oct. 2, which was a nice little nonleague game against Sequim.
Last Friday’s school lockdown, however, cancelled the Sequim game — prompting, among other things, the homecoming game to be pushed back a week.
“There’s no question is threw us off,” Tiger coach Matt Whitmire said. “We were fully expecting to beat Sequim on our homecoming night. We’d had a good week of practice, and thought at the very least we’d be able to play (Sequim) Saturday night.”
A rescheduling, however, wasn’t in the cards. Instead, Centralia (2-2) hosts top-ranked, undefeated, defending Evergreen 2A Conference champion Tumwater (5-0) with a king and a queen named at halftime.
“From not playing Sequim at all to playing the No. 1-ranked team,” Whitmire mused. “Our plans were going into Tumwater at 3-2 and seeing how we could do, and hopefully living up to the challenge.”
And it’s a big challenge. The Thunderbirds got star running backs Easton Trakel and Griffin Shea back from injuries for last week’s 54-14 win over Columbia River, with Shea scoring a pair of touchdowns and Trakel notching four early carries for 34 yards and adding a 40-yard reception from quarterback Spencer Dowers. Jarid Barrett, meanwhile, scored four touchdowns in the blowout.
Whitmire said that, from the film he’s seen, the Thunderbirds could play with the better 3A teams in the state.
“The kids have been really good this week,” Whitmire said. “They understand how formidable of a challenge it’s going to be, but we’re very happy with how the kids have responded this week.”
Centralia will be without two linemen and a starting slot receiver due to disciplinary reasons on Friday, though lineman Garrett Hicks will see a larger role on the offensive line.
“And provided we give him ample protection, Joey Aliff is rock-solid at quarterback,” Whitmire said. “He’s the lynchpin for this offense.”
Notes: The Tigers’ homecoming assembly was held on Wednesday. The homecoming king and queen will be announced at halftime on Friday night, though the homecoming dance will be held after Centralia’s Oct. 30 home game against Black Hills.
On the Schedule
Tenino, ranked No. 10 in the state, heads for Grays Harbor and hopes to pad its 4-1 record against a winless Aberdeen squad. … Rochester hits the road to face defending Evergreen 2A/1A League champ Eatonville. … The marquee matchup in the Central 2B League will see 4-1 Napavine play at 4-1 Toledo. Both teams are ranked in the state poll, and Napavine beat Toledo twice last year — including a 28-22 win in the State 2B semifinals. … Adna (3-2) will try to snap a two-game losing streak on the road at Winlock (1-4). … Mossyrock (1-4) tries to snap its own two-game losing streak at rival Morton-White Pass (3-2). … Onalaska (2-3) takes its running game on the long road to Cathlamet to face a winless Mule squad. … No. 2-ranked Pe Ell-Willapa Valley (5-0) hosts Toutle Lake in a game originally scheduled for Menlo but moved to Pe Ell.
