There’s plenty to unpack from Friday’s Adna/Kalama game.
The teams entered the Week 3 contest ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Associated Press poll and played a fun, foggy, but ultimately unfulfilling contest at Pirate Stadium. Adna got a 27-17 win and looked impressive in the second half, but the ‘W’ came with an asterisk when Kalama quarterback Alex Dyer — the reigning 2B Player of the Year — missed the second half after reportedly suffering a neck injury.
Kalama was up 15-6 at halftime before Dyer went out. The Chinooks’ three key first-half possessions, bookended by three-and-outs, were: A 10-play, 77-yard drive in which Dyer went 6 for 6 for 62 yards and a touchdown; a 13-play, 64-yard drive where Dyer passed for 41 yards and a touchdown; a 10-play drive that covered 57 yards before a turnover on down on the Adna 14-yard line; and another three-and-out 25 seconds before halftime.
Adna certainly looked better in the fourth quarter, when the defense picked off a pass and blocked a punt to set up two of Chance Fay’s three big touchdowns. That, however, only happened after the Pirates had a punt blocked out of their own end zone for a safety.
Throw in the fog — which made any pass attempts beyond a few yards a questionable play, at best — and it’s tough to say what would have happened had Dyer not missed the second half. So while Kalama dropped to 1-2 on the season — a year after going undefeated — it’s hard to imagine the Chinooks falling out of, say, the top four in the polls after Friday’s loss.
On the same hand, a 10-point win over the defending state champs definitely won’t hurt the Pirates’ resume going forward.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Napavine rallied past Toledo to improve to 2-1, while No. 3 Tri-Cities Prep hammered No. 6 Northwest Christian (Colbert) 49-18 on Friday and then finished off a 75-0 win over Kittitas (which had been delayed in Week 2 due to lightning) on Monday. The Jaguars don’t have any major 2B games left on their regular-season schedule but will host St. Bernard’s Academy, of Eureka, Calif. — which is currently 5-0 and has gone 48-6 the last four years — on Sept. 29.
Interestingly, there’s more undefeated teams outside last week’s top 10 than inside it. Adna, TCP, No. 5 Rainier and No. 9 Onalaska are all 3-0; Lake Roosevelt, Morton-White Pass, Columbia, Wilbur-Creston, Life Christian and Ocosta are all unranked. Lake Roosevelt has outscored its opponents (Okanogan, Tonasket and Liberty Bell) 138-0 so far and could be moving into the top 10 this week, with Morton-White Pass likely the next team to merit consideration.
There’s more big 2B games this week, as Onalaska hosts 2-1 Pe Ell-Willapa Valley, Toledo hosts Adna and Wahkiakum plays at Napavine.
Meanwhile, in the 2A classification, W.F. West’s 46-point outburst against Hudson’s Bay could be enough to garner a few votes for the Bearcats in this week’s poll.
Fantasy Football Roundup
Big Winner: The W.F. West offense under first-year head coach Dan Hill is nothing if not entertaining, and junior quarterback Josiah Johnson encapsulates that perfectly. Johnson winged his way to 240 passing yards and three touchdowns, and added 45 rushing yards and two more scores with a why-not conversion pass for a cool 39 points — easily making him the most valuable player in Week 3 of the hypothetical Lewis County Fantasy Football League.
With 46 points on the scoreboard, though, Johnson wasn’t the only Bearcat with a notable line. Here’s how the rest of the league panned out.
30-Point Club: Onalaska running back Ashton Haight, a fixture in this column and a guest on last week’s installment of the “Let’s Take About It” podcast (available on SoundCloud), managed only one touchdown on Friday night. Still, his 229 rushing yards and conversion run gave him a solid 30 points and, once again, made him the most valuable running back in the LCFF League. That only sweetened a week in which the Loggers picked up a big win at Wahkiakum, which everyone knows is a tough place to play, to stay undefeated at 3-0.
20-Point Club: There were plenty of close calls in membership applications to Club 30 this week, but it’s an exclusive organization with strict rules of entry. Morton-White Pass’ Dylan Hamre was the closest call, running for 153 yards, a conversion and two touchdowns for 29 points. … Rochester’s Patrick Riley came up big in a loss to Bremerton with 161 receiving yards and two scores for 28 points. Warrior QB Daniel May tossed three touchdowns with 209 passing yards for 20 points. … Pe Ell-Willapa Valley won its SWW 2B Coastal Division opener with Peter Hamilton leading the way. Hamilton ran for 74 yards and added 42 receiving yards, with two touchdowns and a conversion for 27 points in a 28-24 win over Raymond. Backfield pal Max Smith added 20 points, with two scores, 15 receiving yards and 76 rushing yards … Adna’s Chance Fay came up big in the fourth quarter of the Pirates’ 27-17 win over Kalama, scoring three times and totalling 65 rushing yards — 49 of which came on one decisive run in the game’s final minutes. Toss in a conversion run and Fay finished with 26 fantasy points. … Josiah Johnson’s most productive target on Friday was big Leandre Gaines, who racked up 105 receiving yards with two touchdowns and a conversion run for 24 points. … Winlock quarterback Bryce Cline ran for 67 yards and a score and threw for 178 yards and a score for 23 fantasy points in a loss at Life Christian.
Notables
Winlock’s Noah Patching had three catches for 115 yards and 17 points at LCA. … Onalaska’s win featured over 400 Logger yards on the ground, and plenty of fantasy opportunities. Cade Lawrence had 31 yards and two scores (15 points), Hazen Inman had 80 yards and a TD (14 points), and QB Lucas Kreger had 74 yards and a touchdown (13 points). … MWP’s Gavyn Higdon ran for 96 yards and a touchdown (15 points). … PWV quarterback Logan Walker, moved into the starting lineup with an injury to Matt Pearson, threw for 145 yards and two scores (13 points) against Raymond. … W.F. West’s Lafe Johnson ran for 60 yards and caught a touchdown pass for 12 points. … Centralia quarterback Tanner DeMonbrun ran in a score and passed for 61 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Sehome (12 points).
