State 2B Football: Stout Defense and One Sneaky Play Push Toledo Past Reardan

KELSO — The Indians had a lead. What they needed was a spark.

Toledo came out of halftime up 14-3 against Reardan here Saturday, in a first-round State 2B playoff football game.

And when the Indians’ opening second-half drive stalled, they decided to strike a few rocks together.

Hunter Eaton took the long snap in his usual punt formation, but instead of kicking he lofted a 53-yard touchdown pass to Fano Arceo-Hansen up the right side.

“To be honest, I don’t like him to throw it as high and lofty as he did, because that gives the return guy a chance to make a play on it,” Toledo coach Mike Christensen said. “Luckily he didn’t make a play, and Hunter made a good throw and Fano made a great play.”

The trick pass — from a 6-foot-2, 250-pound All-League lineman to a senior who finished with a career-high 146 receiving yards — was just the kick-start Toledo needed in its eventual 35-3 win.

“It was anyone’s game at that point, so it was a really big momentum boost,” Arceo-Hansen said. “I think that’s when they started to get down on each other.”

Toledo, on the other hand, has never been higher on each other. The Indians, who started the season 2-4, are now on a five-game winning streak and off to play No. 3-seed Tri-Cities Prep next weekend in the state quarterfinals.

“Coming into the season, we thought we could (be here), but not a lot of other people did,” Arceo-Hansen said. “It just feels good to be back.”

Christensen concurred, noting that his team returned just three starters from last year’s state quarterfinalist team.

“We knew it was going to be a process, but I like where we’re at in the process right now,” he said. “I like that our guys responded to a pretty tough early season schedule.”

The trick play put Toledo up 21-3 with just under 10 minutes left in the third quarter, but it wasn’t the last big play of the afternoon for Arceo-Hansen. The senior hauled in a 61-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Marcil midway through the fourth quarter, and 15 seconds later sacked Reardan quarterback Zane Perleberg, forced a fumble and recovered the fumble.

“He’s a stud. He’s an athletically gifted young man who makes the most of his talents,” Christensen said. “He plays football hard, and when we can get him the ball like I like to, he’s pretty special.”

That turnover set up Toledo’s final touchdown, a 1-yard walk into the end zone from Ethan Buck. Buck, also a senior, finished with a game-high 93 rushing yards on 15 carries, and opened the scoring with a 16-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

Reardan responded with a 22-yard field goal from Wyatt Raczykowski, though it came after Reardan was pushed back from a first-and-goal situation on the 1-yard line.

That was the second goal-line stand for the Indians, who blocked a field goal after a bad snap on Reardan’s first drive.

Reardan (8-3), the No. 11 seed in the 2B bracket, finished with 173 rushing yards, but never found the end zone.

“I want to watch film to see if we were sound in what we talked about all week, but I think (we were),” Christensen said. “I don’t like how many yards we gave up, but we stiffened in the end zone and I like that.”

Ryan Bloomstrom added an interception for Toledo late in the fourth quarter.

The Indians tallied 356 yards of offense, with Marcil hitting 4 of 10 passes for 129 yards. Schaplow added 53 rushing yards on nine carries, and Coleby Cherrington caught two passes for 36 yards.

Toledo (7-4) and Tri-Cities Prep (11-0) will play next weekend, with the Jaguars “hosting” the game at a neutral field in the Tri-Cities area. TCP beat No. 14 Wahkiakum, 35-28, in overtime on Saturday to advance out of the first round.