Week 2 Preview: Will First Impressions Continue?

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The first prep football weekend was kind to Lewis County football teams. Lewis County teams were 7-1 in Week 1, with the only loss being Morton-White Pass against Toledo.

The entire coverage area as a whole was 10-3, with the only losses (Tenino, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley) coming against teams within the coverage area (Adna, Rochester).

Teams left a good first impression, but how much does it mean? It’s easy to overreact to Week 1 and say that every team is good and going to the playoffs. The first week did have some exceptional play from teams in Week 1. There is a lot of football talent throughout the area and it showed last Friday and Saturday.

Week 1 isn’t necessarily a solid indicator of season success. In the NFL last season, seven teams started 0-1 and made the playoffs including New Orleans, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Indianapolis, Houston and Los Angeles Chargers.

However, in our coverage area last season, eight teams made the playoffs and seven of those won their opening game. The only team to lose and make the playoffs was Pe Ell-Willapa Valley. While first impressions are a good baseline to evaluate teams, there’s still eight weeks left and anything is possible.

2A/1A

The Bearcats will take on 3A Capital in their home opener on Friday. W.F. West defeated River Ridge last Friday 29-20 in Lacey, with Jaiyden Camoza racking up 209 yards on the ground. The Bearcats turned the ball over seven times, including five interceptions in the win.

Capital lost to Lakes 46-21 in Olympia in Week 1. The Cougars defeated the Bearcats 22-9 last season in Olympia.

W.F. West has won their last four home openers, last falling to North Kitsap in 2014 before defeating Kingston, Ridgefield, Hoquiam and River Ridge.

Centralia is also taking on a 3A school, facing Evergreen on Friday at Tiger Stadium. The Plainsmen fell to Heritage 35-28 in Week 1 at home in Vancouver.

The Tigers went down to Vancouver and earned a 48-33 win over Columbia River, with three players recording over 100 yards rushing in Blaine Wass (126 yards), Brady Hoyt (132) and Chase Sobolesky-Reynolds (137).

Centralia lost to Evergreen last season 47-22 in Vancouver.

Rochester is coming off a Scatter Creek Showdown victory and looking to make it 2-0 in their home opener against Elma. The Eagles won 34-8 in Elma against King’s Way Christian in Week 1.

Warrior quarterback Daniel May was 13-of-22 for 188 yards and one touchdown and also added a score on the ground. The Rochester defense forced four turnovers — three interceptions and a fumble recovery — in the 34-20 win against the Beavers.

The Eagles earned a 41-12 win over Rochester last season in Elma.

Tenino will try and bounce back this Friday on the road against Chimacum at 6:30 p.m. in Port Townsend. The Cowboys fell to Seton Catholic 19-8 in Vancouver last Friday.



In spite of the loss, the Beavers had some positives to take away, including Shawn Nicholson racking up 87 yards on 15 carries to average 5.8 yards per carry. Quarterback Aiden Wright was able to move the ball through the air, finding Paxton Russell with five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

2B

The matchup of the week is in Napavine, where the Tigers return after a 39-12 win east of the Cascades against Liberty to take on two-time defending state champion Kalama.

Quarterback Laythan Demarest threw for 172 yards and rushed for 127 yards and four touchdowns. The Tigers tallied 572 yards of total offense.

Kalama may have lost quarterback Alex Dyer but it doesn’t appear to have changed too much for the Chinooks, earning a 26-7 win against Woodland at home in Week 1.

The Chinooks defeated the Tigers 20-13 in Kalama in Week 2 last season and also earned a 34-25 win in the state championship game at the Tacoma Dome last December.

The Pirates are fresh off a 33-6 win over the Titans and will try to improve to 2-0 on the road against the Mules in Cathlamet. Wahkiakum traveled across the mountains along with Napavine and fell to Colfax 54-21 in Spangle.

Adna defeated Wahkiakum 34-0 last season at home.

Toledo and Rainier are each coming off of victories and will meet in Toledo in Week 2. The Indians — after a lightning delay in Morton — came out and were strong on defense in a 41-6 win over Morton-White Pass on Saturday. Duke Schaplow scored on an interception and Jacob Marley picked up a fumble and scored for a Toledo defense that allowed minus-3 yards of total offense.

The Mountaineers took down Raymond 38-14 in Week 1 in Rainier, scoring all 38 points in the first half.

Across I-5, Winlock will also open the season at home against 3A Fort Vancouver. The Cardinals dominated North Beach 49-0 in Ocean Shores last Friday. Quarterback Bryce Cline looked sharp in his senior season debut, completing 4-of-7 passes for 138 yards and two scores and running in another touchdown.

Winlock’s defense was also stout, holding North Beach to minus-71 yards of total offense. The Trappers fell to R.A. Long 43-16 last Friday in Longview.

Morton-White Pass will hope to bounce back this Friday in Raymond. While the Timberwolves fell in their opener, they were without their air raid guru which should help the MWP offense generate some points against the Seagulls.

On Saturday, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley will try and earn their first win of the season in Concrete against the Lions. Concrete lost 62-22 against 1A Cedar Park Christian in Bothell. The two teams met last season in Menlo, a 42-0 Titan victory.

The Loggers are preparing to battle Amity, Oregon on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Onalaska. Ashton Haight ran for 55 yards and two scores while the Onalaska defense gained yardage by holding Toutle Lake to minus-23 yards of total offense in a 62-0 win. Five different players scored touchdowns for the Loggers in Week 1 including Haight, Lucas Kreger, Gunnar Talley, Omar Cardenas and Braden Marshall through the air.

The Warriors will make the 139 mile drive North on I-5 Saturday after defeating St. Mary’s (Medford, Ore.) 34-32 in Amity.