NAPAVINE — It’s officially uncharted territory.
For the first time in the Josh Fay era, which dates back to 2007, the Napavine Tigers have lost three games in a row.
The most recent loss, a 56-0 drubbing against Montesano at Tiger Field on Friday night, left Fay with more questions than answers.
“We’ll find out how resilient we are,” Fay said. “And if these guys got any character in them or not.”
The Tigers’ (1-3) best stretch of the game came right out of the gate, as they made their way deep into Montesano territory before turning it over on downs in the red zone.
On the fourth down play, Grady Wilson landed hard on his left shoulder and left the game with an injury. He did not return.
Montesano scored a touchdown just two plays later, and a Wilson-less Napavine offense never found its footing.
The final five Napavine possessions of the first half went as follows: Punt, turnover on downs, interception, punt, end of half. Montesano scored a touchdown on each possession in between to take a 35-0 lead into the locker room.
“We didn’t have anyone want to take over and send us in the right direction,” Fay said. “Sometimes you got to be the guy that wants to put the cape on.”
The second half wasn’t much better, aside from the fact that the clock kept rolling.
By the end of the night, Montesano had outgained Napavine 487 to 162, including 342 yards on the ground. After gaining 61 yards on the opening drive, the Tigers gained just 101 throughout the rest of the game.
“We had a lot of quit tonight,” Fay said. “We’re gonna fix that, or we’ll be 1-4, then 1-5, then 1-6. We’re going to have to figure something out.”
Dean Hamilton finished with a team-high 79 yards on nine carries, while Wilson tallied 42 yards on five carries on the first drive of the game.
If Wilson misses an extended period of time, it’ll be another blow to a Napavine team that is also beaten up. Against Montesano, nine other players didn’t suit up due to injuries.
Fay is confident in the players that remain, saying he has the guys to win ball games, but they noted that they are running out of time to figure things out.
Next Friday, Oct. 3, the Tigers host Adna in their first league matchup.
“We’ll see if that’s a challenge they’re willing to accept,” Fay said. “They don’t hang banners for non-league games. I feel good about our league schedule and where we’re at. We got a couple tough ones in there for sure, but I think they’re all winnable games. We just have to be playing well in Week 11, that’s when this matters.”
