Napavine's Cole Doughty (11) congratulates teamate, Mac Fagerness after his touchdown run against the Onalaska Loggers Friday night in Napavine.
Onalaska Quarterback, Travis McMillion, carries the ball down the muddy tundra at Tiger Stadium Friday evening.
Onalaska Quarterback, Travis McMillion, is sacked by the Napavine Tiger defense of Napavine's Julian Rodriguez (6) and Jensen Lindsay (23) during the Loggers' away game in Napavine Friday night.
Onalaska's Kiefer Kastl takes the ball up field during the Loggers' away game against the Napavine Tigers Friday night.
NAPAVINE — Jarod Hammond's first field goal of the season was also the most important as his 27-yard boot in overtime lifted Napavine past Central 2B League foe Onalaska, 23-20, and sent the Tigers to the State 2B playoffs for sixth straight year.
Hammond's kick capped off a tight game that featured much more in the way of dramatics than the teams' first meeting this season, which Napavine won 48-13 back on Sept. 20.
"I've got a lot of respect for those Onalaska kids and their coaching staff," Napavine coach Josh Fay said. "You won't see a whole lot of football games like that one. Their kids played one heck of a game and it was well played on both sides. This is a game everyone will remember for the next 50 years."
Onalaska quarterback Travis McMillion was the game's leading rusher with 122 yards on 26 carries. After Mac Fagerness scored for the Tigers from 53 yards out, the Loggers took their swings at the No. 4 team in the state. McMillion scored on a 1-yard run and Keifer Kastle converted on a 2-point conversion to put Onalaska up 8-6 after a quarter. Trevor Lawrence recovered a fumble in the end zone and put the Loggers up 14-6 at the half.
"I couldn't have been more proud of our kids," Onalaska coach Mazen Saade said. "I don't think a lot of people gave us a chance in this game and here we were up on the No. 4 team in the state of Washington."
After the break, McMillion scored from 3 yards out to put the Loggers up 20-6 in the third quarter.
"It didn't look good for us," Fay said. "We wondered as a coaching staff if the team was going to fold up or battle. Mark Foster had some big defensive plays that sparked us and we were able to get momentum and rattle off 17 unanswered points."
That started with a 9-yard touchdown run by Jensen Lindsey in the third quarter and a Brady Woodrum 1-yard scoring jaunt in the fourth to tie things up. Napavine then advanced to the big dance with Hammond's 27-yard boot. While Hammond hadn't kicked a field goal from scrimmage, Fay said he was more concerned about the snap and hold.
"There just hadn't been a situation this season that we've needed to use Jarod," Fay said. "That's a heck of a way to finish. I've never had a game end like that. You have to give Jarod credit for staying focused. They tried to ice him but he stayed in it and got it done."
Napavine finished with 242 total yards, all on the ground with Katyn Newcomb taking the lion's share of carries with 24 totes for 77 yards. Woodrum added 69 yards on the ground.
"I think this is one of our more complete efforts as a team," Fay said. "We had a lot of kids step up and make plays and dealt with adversity."
Onalaska finished with 197 yards on the ground, Kastl added 72 yards on 15 carries.
"We asked them this week to play the best game of football they've ever played and they did that," Saade said.
Onalaska finishes the season 5-5 overall, a year after going 2-7. Saade added that the hard work of seniors Austin Clark, Jared Wilson, Gave Hall, Jacob Mager, Lawrence and McMillion will be remembered by the Loggers.
"You look at the football these guys have played, they didn't have a win when they started in middle school," Saade said. "And what they've done and the mark they've left on this program is priceless. I'm proud of all these kids."
Napavine (9-1) will face Concrete at Sedro-Woolley on Saturday in the first round State 2B playoffs.
Adna Holds Off Valley, Returns to State
MENLO — Adna came out and put the wood to Willapa Valley here Friday night, beating the Vikings 27-9 in a District 4 crossover game.
The victory puts the Pirates into the State 2B playoffs next week and ties Adna up with La Salle for the most all-time consecutive team playoff appearances, with eleven.
Adna coach K.C. Johnson said his players knew what was at stake before the game.
“They knew they were playing for an awful lot,” Johnson said.
“Keeping that streak alive. That’s a big deal in Adna right now.”
Willapa Valley got on the scoreboard first when Robert Espina nailed a 31-yard first quarter field goal, but the Vikings were unable to score again until the fourth quarter.
In the mean time, Adna posted running scores by David Young and Mike Thompson to take a 13-3 lead.
The Vikings tried to make a game of it early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Matt Konigsberger connected with Matt Gray on a 27-yard pass, cutting the Adna lead to 13-9.
That’s when the Adna offensive line stepped up and took over the game, opening up gaping holes for the Pirates running backs, including a 13-yard Mike Thompson touchdown run and a 50-yard Cole Young scamper.
“I was very impressed with our offensive line and our tight ends,” said Johnson. “Our big guys up front basically won the game for us.”
Johnson cited Marcus Hampton, Zach Brotherson, Levi Williams, Luke Mattoon, Tyler Olson, Pete Harris, and Reese Wilson for their work on the line.
“Those seven guys were just amazing up front when we needed them to be late in the game,” said Johnson
Behind the big line, Cole Young and Thompson led the Adna’s rushing attack with 128 and 118 yards, respectively, for the game.
“It’s our seventh straight win,” pointed out Johnson. “I am just so dang proud of these kids. That’s two years in a row going 0-3 and then making the state playoffs. That’s just a testament to how tough these Adna kids are.” Adna will travel east of the mountains next week to play Waitsburg-Prescott, the 2011 state champions. The game will likely be played Saturday, at 1 p.m, in the Tri-Cities.
Trojans Finish With a Win
WESTPORT — The Trojans got in one last win for good measure here Friday night, taking down Ocosta 24-6 in a nonleague 2B football contest.
Aidan Arrington threw touchdown passes to Dakota Russell and Taylor Prestegard, and Pe Ell managed a touchdown every quarter to finish the season with a 4-6 record.
"We played well. It was a good game, and we got a lot of younger kids in the game," Trojan coach Josh Fluke said. "Overall, it was a good way to end the season, even if it wasn't a playoff game."
It was the final game for Pe Ell seniors Nick Bailey, Devin Hoffman, Russell, Austin Arrington and Matt Kelly.
Bailey ran for a game-high 92 yards and scored on a 60-yard punt return in the first quarter. Aidan Arrington ran for 43 yards and completed five passes for 122 yards, with a 35-yard touchdown run.
