The Centralia football team’s first matchup against Tumwater — officially a non-league contest, was a half-lit, ugly affair that left the Tigers with a goose egg on the scoreboard the whole night.
The Tigers would have no such problems in their league contest against the T-Birds, as Ed LeBaron hit Dean Proffitt for a 74-yard touchdown on the first play of the game, starting Centralia off fast in a 20-14 win.
Tom Hartman — the Tigers’ senior transfer from Portland — went for 142 yards on 16 carries, and scored their other two touchdowns of the day, while Brad Brumbaugh added 114 rushing yards. LeBaron finished the night 7 for 12 through the air for 123 yards; Proffitt was his favorite target, with two more receptions after his explosive play early.
Tumwater quarterback Lyle Unwin got the T-Birds within striking distance in the fourth quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Skip Markham. They got the ball back in the final minute of the game, but Unwin’s last-gasp shot downfield fell incomplete to give Centralia the win.
Husky-and-Ladder
Up by six points at halftime over Morton, Toledo knew the key to holding onto the lead hinged on containing star tailback Mike Herron.
Morton knew it, too.
Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Al Evans hit Herron for a short completion. As the Toledo defense swarmed to him, Herron pitched the ball to teammate Doug Coleman, who ran it 76 yards to the end zone. The Huskies got in on the ensuing two-point conversion, and held on to win 14-12.
‘A Force to Be Reckoned With’
Winlock started its season 3-1, but four weeks into the season, the Cardinals had yet to beat a team with a win of its own to its name.
That changed in Week 5, when the Cardinals met up with undefeated Onalaska and trounced the Loggers 36-12.
“Winlock has a fine ball team and I was very impressed,” Onalaska coach Ed Simons said afterward.
Mike Davis got to throw the ball early and made the most of it, hitting Jim Wood for a 33-yard touchdown. Then, he got back to work on the ground and scored a 17-yard touchdown run to give Winlock a 16-0 lead at the break.
Davis linked up with Wood for another touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Steve McGraw scored on a 6-yard run.
With Winlock leading 30-12, Onalaska fumbled the ball away on the final play of the game. As soon as the ball hit the turf, fans rushed the field to celebrate the win — as Bob Marsyla picked it up and navigated through both the defense and the crowd to give the Cardinals one last touchdown.
Quick Hitters
Quotable
“Everybody that walked out to the field was able to walk back to the shower room. But there’ll be a few guys with some sore ribs.” — White Pass coach Ken Osborne, after the loss to Rochester that saw the Panthers suit up just 13 players.
Other Scores
Chehalis 21, North Thurston 6
Kalama 26, Tenino 6
Willapa Valley 14, Mossyrock 8
Rainier 25, Wishkah 0
Napavine 20, Boistfort 8
Adna 6, Quinault 0
Standings
Black Hills League (AA)
Shelton 3-0 5-0
Camas 3-0 4-1
Centralia 2-1 3-2
Chehalis 2-1 3-2
Timberline 1-2 2-3
Tumwater 0-3 2-3
Elma 0-3 1-4
South Central League (A)
Morton 4-0 5-0
Winlock 4-0 4-1
Onalaska 3-1 3-1
Mossyrock 3-1 3-2
Kalama 3-2 3-2
Toledo 2-3 2-3
Rochester 1-4 1-4
White Pass 0-4 0-5
Tenino 0-5 0-5
SWW 8-Man
Napavine 3-0 5-0
Quinault 3-0 4-1
Pe Ell 3-0 3-2
Rainier 1-2 2-3
Adna 1-2 1-4
Oakville 1-2 1-4
Boistfort 0-3 0-4
Wishkah 0-3 0-4
