TUMWATER — It started with a bobbled kick return to start the game. No major damage but it pinned the Centralia football team deep.
But the little things kept happening and added up to a big loss for the Tigers, 43-7 to Black Hills here on Friday night in an Evergreen 2A Conference football game at Sid Otton Stadium.
"It seemed like there was something that pushed us backward in every series," said Centralia coach Jeremy Thibault. "And when we had the chance to make a big play on defense it just didn't happen."
There was a holding call that stalled a drive; a missed tackle that led to a touchdown; slow snap that forced the punter to try and (unsuccessfully) run for a first down; and a missed block that led to a sack.
"When you're playing a good team like that, you have to do the little things and we didn't get them done tonight," said Thibault. "We talk to the kids about how football transitions to life, and how the little things make a big difference. Tonight we learned how those little things can add up."
Black Hills scored on each of its first three possessions in the first quarter. All three drives had one big play by the Wolves and resulted in two Taylor Simmons rushing scores and one by Zach Loveless. Black Hills ended the night with 350 yards rushing. Loveless led all ground gainers, as the bruising fullback carried nine times for 149 yards. Simmons finished with 74 yards on eight carries.
After falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter, the Tigers did gain some brief momentum as they held Black Hills in a goal-to-go situation. But the tide quickly turned following a safety and touchdown run by the Wolves.
Up 30-0 at halftime, Black Hills put the game away as they returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.
"I can't fault the kids effort. They played hard the entire game," said Thibault. "But we talked at halftime about who was going to step up and make the big play. Then to start the second half we have guys in position and we don't tackle and they take it all the way back."
Centralia's lone score came in the fourth quarter as wide receiver Blaine Wass hauled in an acrobatic 42-yard catch in the end zone from quarterback Tanner DeMonbrun, whose tight spiral came as he rolled right and fired down the sideline.
"The kids played hard until the end, and Black Hills is undefeated for a reason. They have some legit dudes" said Thibault. "We just have to figure out how to put it all together and get over the hump."
Centralia (1-5, 0-2) is at home with Rochester on Friday.
2B
Winlock Flies Past Mossyrock
By The Chronicle
MOSSYROCK — Mossyrock scored the first points of the game, but Winlock scored the next 36 to cruise to a 36-7 win over the Vikings in a SWW 2B League River Division game here on Friday night.
It was the Bryce Cline show for Winlock, rushing 12 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns while completing two passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. Noah Patching caught both passes.
The Cardinals had 253 yards on the ground and 315 yards of total offense.
TJ Villanueva led Mossyrock with 111 rushing yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Evan Gootgeld was 1 of 3 passing for 27 yards and an interception, and Aiden Imes caught the lone pass.
Mossyrock put the ball on the ground eight times but only lost two of those fumbles.
“Not too well. It was our first game out there in the wet weather. We didn’t keep the ball under control,” Mossyrock coach Chris Fried said. “Evan (Gootgeld) went out in the third quarter which pretty much put an end to us.”
Fried was pleased with the play of Matthew Pansuka on defense.
After a scoreless first quarter, Mossyrock’s Nick Fried scored on a 1-yard run for an early 7-0 lead.
Cline scored his first touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run. Cline then found Patching for a 40-yard touchdown pass and a 16-7 lead at halftime.
It was Cline once again with a 20-yard touchdown scamper for the only points of the third quarter. Cline then scored a defensive touchdown with an 83-yard interception return to the house.
Noah Swofford capped the scoring with a 4-yard rushing touchdown.
Winlock (2-4, 1-1) hosts Toutle Lake next Friday in the Cardinals’ homecoming game while Mossyrock (2-4, 0-2) hosts Kalama next Friday in a River Division contest.
Kalama Dominates Toledo
KALAMA — Toledo accumulated 245 yards rushing here on Friday, but fumbled five times to help Kalama cruise to a 32-13 win over the Indians in a Southwest Washington 2B River Division football game.
Toledo was led by Kal Schaplow with 82 yards on nine carries. Ethan Buck totaled 75 yards on 15 carries and Colbey Cherrington had 51 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.
Quarterback Bryce Marcil was 2 of 11 passing for 42 yards and had a rushing score. Fano Arceo-Hansen caught both passes for 27 yards.
Kalama quarterback Alex Dyer was 14 of 28 passing for 236 yards and four touchdowns. Brennon Vance caught eight passes for 92 yards and three scores and Max Ross hauled in eight passes for 47 yards and a touchdown.
“We came out a little shaky in the first quarter like we have against top teams. When we wake up, I think we can play with anybody, but we couldn’t recover from it,” Toledo coach Mike Christensen said. “We played well in the second half. Our offensive line is playing well and coming together. We had no fumble issues all season but we put the ball on the turf way too many times tonight.”
Dyer found Vance for an 8-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring. Dyer then found Ross for a 4-yard TD pass and Dyer once again found Vance for a 10-yard touchdown throw for a 20-0 lead at halftime.
Bryce Marcil got Toledo on the board to start the third quarter with a 1-yard TD run. Dyer completed his fourth TD pass of the game to Vance from 4-yards out. Cherrington scored on a 5-yard run to cut into the Kalama lead, but Kalama put the game away with a 55-yard kickoff return score by Parker Wood.
Christensen was pleased with his offensive line, including Hunter Eaton, Jemal Anderson, Joshua Quinn, Larry Emery and Michael Echtle.
Toledo (2-4, 1-1) faces Wahkiakum next Friday in a River Division contest in Cathlamet.
Tigers Bounce Back, Blast MWP
NAPAVINE — The Tigers rebounded from their first league loss of the season here Friday night, drubbing Morton-White Pass 46-0 in a SWW 2B League Mountain Division football contest.
Laythan Demarest and Brett Bradshaw each scored two touchdowns and Napavine’s defense held MWP to just 62 yards in the win.
“I thought Laythan played a really good game,” Tiger coach Josh Fay said. “He did some nice stuff for us. We gave him a couple series at quarterback and I thought he looked pretty good there.”
Regular quarterback Dawson Stanley, meanwhile, ran for 59 yards and a touchdown and hit 7 of 11 passes for 138 yards with a 59-yard scoring strike to Bradshaw.
Demarest finished with five carries for 128 yards, opening the scoring with a 5-yard run in the first quarter and adding a 68-yard run to open the second half.
“I thought our offensive line made some good adjustments at halftime, and did a nice job in the second half of allowing our run game to open up,” Fay added.
The Tigers ran for 336 yards in the game. Jared McCollum added a 9-yard touchdown run and Dayton Keyes scored on a 43-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Grant Bennett, a junior, got his first start of the year at strong safety and played well, Fay pointed out.
Napavine was coming off a 50-13 loss to top-ranked Adna a week earlier and picked up its first Mountain Division win with the victory.
“It’s the best we’ve played since Week 1,” Fay said. “It was a good homecoming game for us.”
Keegan Kelly led Morton-White Pass with 20 rushing yards on three carries.
Napavine (4-2, 1-1 league) hosts Onalaska on Friday. Morton-White Pass (4-2, 0-2 league) hosts Life Christian on Friday.
Titans Blank South Bend
SOUTH BEND — Max Smith had 168 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, pushing Pe Ell-Willapa Valley to a 42-0 win over South Bend in a Southwest Washington Coastal Division football game here on Friday.
Smith had 24 carries and added a pick six. Kollin Jurek added 109 yards rushing on 14 carries and a touchdown as well as a touchdown catch.
Logan Walker was 1 of 2 passing for 22 yards and a touchdown.
The PWV defense held South Bend to 99 total yards while the Titan offense totaled 321 yards, including 299 yards on the ground.
“It started out really slow. If it wasn’t for a couple dropped passes, it could have been a close first half,” PWV coach Josh Fluke said. “The offense started clicking and so did the defense so it turned out OK after the first quarter.”
Smith scored the only points of the first quarter on a 16-yard touchdown run. PWV got the offense going in the second quarter, with Smith scoring a touchdown on runs of 3 and 8 yards. Walker threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jurek for a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Jurek scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 67-yard run. Smith ended the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Fluke was pleased with the performance from Smith and the defensive performance of Kiah Carter, making nine tackles at middle linebacker. Wyatt Bush matched Carter with nine tackles.
PWV (4-2, 3-0) hosts North Beach next Friday in a Coastal Division game in Menlo.
