Onalaska junior fullback Marshall haight (32) stiff-arms a Forks' defender on Saturday.
Onalaska senior defensive back Danny Dalsted breaks up a Forks pass play on Saturday.
Onalaska cornerback Kole Taylor (23) and linebacker Aidan Readman bring down a Forks' ballcarrier on Saturday.
Onalaska quarterback Danny Dalsted eludes a Forks' lineman during the Loggers home matchup Saturday.
Onalaska junior running back Gunnar Talley rushed against Forks on Saturday
Onalaska senior Danny Dalsted picks off a Forks' pass that was called a reception for the Spartans.
The ball comes loose during an Onalaska rush against Forks Saturday.
Onalaska defensive coordinator Wayne Nelson talks to the Loggers during the first half of their matchup with Forks Saturday.
Onalaska fans cheer on the Loggers during their matchup against Forks Saturday at home.
Onalaska senior quarterback Danny Dalsted runs around end on a QB keep against Forks Saturday.
ONALASKA —There was no big hurrah. No inspiring locker-room halftime speech by Onalaska coaches Mazen Saade and Wayne Nelson. With Onalaska trailing Forks 9-8, the Loggers talked strictly business; what they needed to do and where they needed to go in the second half.
The Loggers’ halftime adjustments worked, as quarterback Danny Dalsted ran in a 19-yard touchdown in overtime and Ony held off the Spartans’ furious upset bid in a 24-16 victory at home Saturday.
It was a crucial win for Onalaska (2-0), a week after pummeling state semifinalist Napavine 38-0 in the season opener. Saturday, though, they faced a formidable Forks team that had joined the Southwest Washington 2B Football League this season after dropping down from Class 1A.
The Spartans made their presence known early, connecting on a halfback toss from Hayden Baker to Colton Duncan in the first quarter, followed by an 11-yard field goal in the second quarter to go up 9-0. The Loggers, meanwhile, lost three fumbles in the first half, which stifled their patented triple-option offense.
It looked like Ony might head into the locker room facing a nine-point deficit, before the Loggers drove downfield with a minute to play and Marshall Haight punched it in from 3 yards out at the halftime siren. Dalsted’s two-point conversion pulled Ony within one, trailing 9-8 going into halftime.
“It was huge,” Saade said. “We got the ball back and it set some things up for us. We rallied in the second half.”
The Spartans increased their lead in the third quarter on a 14-yard touchdown run by Baker to make it 16-8. But Gunnar Talley would bust off a 54-yard touchdown jaunt, at one point crossing the entire side of the field, to tie the game at 16-all in the third quarter.
Dalsted blasted in for a 19-yard touchdown scamper in overtime, followed by Talley’s 2-point conversion run to put the Loggers up 24-16. Junior cornerback Kole Taylor, in his first year starting, picked Forks off on the Spartans’ next possession to seal the win.
Saade was impressed with how his team responded after trailing the entire first half.
“The kids became more physical, and at the end of the game, they wanted to play and keep fighting,” Saade said. “That’s big. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Haight led the Loggers with a game-high 147 yards and a touchdown on 37 carries. Talley tallied 101 yards and a score on just 10 carries, while Dalsted kept the ball six times for 36 yards and a score. Onalaska out-rushed Forks 285-110.
Saade said the team will focus on shoring up their mental mistakes next week. The Loggers fumbled six times and lost four of those, while drawing five penalties for 55 yards.
“We’ll work to improve those little things,” Saade said.
Onalaska takes on Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 27, in Montesano.
Napavine senior Laythan Demarest ran for 245 yards and four touchdowns, while throwing for another, as the Tigers avenged last season’s state-quarterfinal loss to Kalama with a 49-32 win over the Chinooks Saturday in Kalama.
In a game filled with lead changes and back-and-forth scoring, it was the Tigers who held on in the fourth quarter, scoring on a Demarest 1-yard run and Gavin Parker’s game-sealing 71-yard interception return for a touchdown to put the Chinooks away for good.
“It was a great game,” Napavine coach Josh Fay said “I’m sure those who watched it in person and online got their money’s worth.”
Napavine (1-1) was coming off a painful 38-0 drubbing by league rival Onalaska last weekend, a game that left the Tigers hungry for redemption. That, coupled with falling to Kalama in the state semifinals in 2019, provided some much-needed motivation to get the Tigers back on track.
“I don’t know if we had this game circled, we just knew that if we didn’t come and play well, we’d be 0-2,” Fay said. “And we didn’t want to be 0-2… we had a really good week of preparation. We’ve had a lot of success and our guys took a hard look in the mirror and made the adjustments.”
It was a battle of maybe the top-two Class 2B quarterbacks in the entire state: Demarest, an all-state honorable mention selection in 2019, and Kalama junior Jackson Esary, also an all-state honorable mention pick a year ago.
The two versatile signal-callers provided a show worth watching. Demarest ran the ball 27 times for 245 yards and four TDs, while also throwing a 57-yard touchdown pass to all-state tight end Cade Evander. Esary, meanwhile, ran 18 times for 124 yards and three scores, while going 18-for-33 passing for 211 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Napavine’s defense, while surrendering yardage, made timely stops when needed, including the game-sealing pick and a couple sacks on Esary.
“Defensively, we were relentless and kept working,” Fay said.
Napavine travels to Montesano to face Rainier at 7 p.m. on Saturday in a battle of 1-1 teams.
Mules Too Much for Timberwolves
Wahkiakum is proving to be the class of Southwest Washington 2B Football League’s newly-created East-West Division after handing Morton-White Pass a 41-8 loss on Saturday in Cathlamet.
Even with just 21 players, the Mules proved to be to much for the Timberwolves, limiting MWP to just 112 total yards of offense. MWP’s lone score came in the fourth quarter, after the Mules had done all their damage, when Leyten Collette hooked up with Carter Dantinne for a 29-yard touchdown reception. But by then, the game was long over.
Dantinne led the Timberwolves’ rushing attack with 12 carries for 48 yards. Collette was 1-for-2 passing for 29 yards.
“It was tough to get going,” Morton-White Pass coach Lee Metcalf said. “We were overmatched and couldn’t get anything going offensively. At times we ran the ball well, we were just inconsistent and couldn’t string anything together.
Morton-White Pass falls to 1-1 on the season and hosts Chief Leschi on Friday in Randle.
