2B Football: Onalaska Proves It’s Still the Team to Beat

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CONTINUING DOMINANCE: The Defending 2B State Champions Have No Trouble With a Talented Napavine Squad in Season-Opener Monday

It wasn’t the outcome anyone was expecting. Sure, Onalaska is the defending 2B state champion and returns what might be the best offensive and defensive lines in the entire 2B classification. But Napavine brings back eight starters on offense and 10 on defense from a team that went 10-2 a year ago, narrowly losing to Kalama in the state semifinals.

Their 2021 season-opening matchup at 7 p.m. Monday at Tiger Stadium in Centralia was supposed to be a battle of two of the best 2B teams in the state. A must-watch game.

But the Loggers once again proved they are the class of the state, punishing the Tigers in convincing fashion, 38-0.

‘We as a coaching staff were excited and the players were excited,” Onalaska coach Mazen Saade said. “Really pleased with how we came out the gate. Proud of our guys.”

The Loggers exploded for 358 total yards of offense, including 351 on the ground. Junior Marshall Haight, a first-year starter at fullback, led the Loggers in rushing with 110 yards and a score on 21 carries. Gunnar Talley added 104 yards and a TD on 12 carries and Kolby Mozingo tallied 89 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.

“Haight ran hard,” Saade said.

Defensively, the Loggers held Napavine to just 88 total yards of offense, and Saade commended Spencer Hamilton, Kayden Allison And Braden Marshal for their defensive efforts.

“Napavine is a really, really good team,” Saade said. “They’re well coached. It’s a great win for our guys coming out the chute."

Napavine coach Josh Fay said he hopes his team can turn it around quickly as the Tigers face off against another top-three team in the state in Kalama, which lost to Onalaska in the 2019 state title game.

“Onalaska was prepared,” Fay said. “They came out and played better and I didn’t have my guys prepared. We’ll either make adjustments or it’s going to be a long season.”

Onalaska hosts Forks at 2 p.m. on Friday and Napavine travels to face Kalama on Friday.

Toledo Bests Rainier in Snow Battle

TOLEDO — In this group of Indians’ first-ever game playing in the snow, Toledo was able to adjust just a tad bit better than visiting Rainier.

Davin Kinsman and Trey Rego combined for 146 rushing yards and two scores as the Indians held off the Mountaineers at home Monday in a field blanketed with weekend snow.

“The field was slow,” Toledo coach Mike Christensen said. “I’m proud of the way our guys played overall.”



Christensen praised Kinsman and Rego for their rushing efforts, which proved to be tough sledding all afternoon. Defensively, Jesse Towns was commended for his ferocity tackling. The Indians spent three hours shoveling snow to prep the field for play.

“It was exhausting for the kids to run in,” Christensen said. “Every yard was hard to come by.”

Kinsman started off the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 5:50 left in the first half. The Indians converted the two-point conversion shovel pass to go up 8-0.

Rainier answered back just before halftime, when running back Jake Jeske broke free for a long run down to the redzone. Five plays later, Jeske punched it in for a 2-yard score of his own. The failed two-point conversion run kept the Indians in the lead at 6-0 with 1:06 left in the half.

Rego found the endzone on a 4-yard scamper with four minutes left in the third quarter, and another successful two-point conversion gave the Indians a 16-6 lead. Rainier would score one more time, when Jeske scored from 2 yards out for his second TD of the night. Another failed two-point attempt kept the Indians in the lead at 16-12 with 4:30 left in the game.

Rainier wouldn’t threaten again for the final four minutes and Toledo held on for the season-opening victory at home.

Rego had a team-high 76 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Kinsman added 70 yards on 30 carries and Jacob Marley ran the ball six times for 41 yards. Toledo quarterback Ryan Bloomstrom was 3-for-10 passing for 30 yards. Kinsman added one reception for 10 yards and Carlo Arceo-Hansen caught one ball for 8 yards.

Toledo travels to Pe Ell to take on Pe Ell-Willapa Valley at 7 p.m. Friday. Rainier hosts Adna at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Timberwolves Crush Wildcats on the Road

Morton-White Pass junior Carter Dantinne exploded for 281 rushing yards and five touchdowns as the Timberwolves shellacked Ocosta on the road in a 48-13 season-opening road victory Monday.

Ocosta dropped down to 8-man football this year, so the Timberwolves adjusted their schemes for the change of pace and turned in some eye-popping results.

The Timberwolves didn’t throw a single pass. They didn’t need to. MWP erupted for 463 total rushing yards, led by Dantinne, who scored on runs of 8, 2, 55, 75 and 21 yards to propel the TImberwolves to victory. Leyten Collette finished with 31 yards and a score on 10 carries, while freshman quarterback Brecken Pelletier broke free for a 53-yard TD jaunt in the fourth quarter.

“Our offensive line was good,” MWP coach Lee Metcalf said. “We have a lot of seniors up front who created holes. Carter took advantage of it. He put on 20 pounds of muscle over the summer and it was good to see him running through arm tackles.”

Defensively, MWP held the Wildcats to just 136 total yards, including 80 on the ground. Metcalf said Ocosta is a passing team, and the Wildcats were hampered in the passing game due to the weather. For MWP, Gabe Black added nine carries for 39 yards and Pelletier had three runs for 62 yards.

“We’ll take it,” Metcalf said. “Being in this division will be a little more fun for us.”

Morton-White Pass will get back to 12-man football when it travels to Wahkiakum for a 3 p.m. matchup on Saturday. The game will be streamed on the NFHS Network.