One week down, a fair few more to go. What did we learn in Week 1? Well, that we might only know a few things for certain early this fall. Here’s what we’ve got on the schedule for Week 2, where we might see the picture get a little bit clearer, at least.
THURSDAY
Black Hills at North Thurston
These two teams combined for one win last season, but both come into Week 2 at 1-0. Black Hills took out a tough 1A in Montesano with a balanced offense that it will try to maintain, while North Thurston beat 2A Washington by eight points. The last time the Wolves started a season 2-0 was back in 2018, when they ran the table in the regular season.
FRIDAY
Battle Ground at Centralia
Things didn’t get off to a great start for Centralia, with the offense sputtering to just 136 yards and seven points against 1A Elma. They’ll look to get their fortunes turned around against a different sort of Tiger: 4A Battle Ground, which just dropped its season opener to 2A Mark Morris by three possessions.
Lynden at W.F. West
Pat on the back to W.F. West for its Week 1 win over Ridgefield; things are about to get a lot harder, and fast. If there was a knock on the Bearcats last Friday, it was the five passing plays of 20 yards or more the secondary gave up to the Spudders. The defensive front played a good game stopping the run after Ridgefield’s first scoring drive, but the entire W.F. West unit is going to have to play a pretty much perfect game to have a shot at upsetting the state champs.
North Kitsap at Tumwater
Twenty minutes up the road from Chehalis, two more state semifinalists will be going at it in a highly-ranked matchup on Sid Otton Field. Tumwater took care of Burlington-Edison in Week 1, with both Alex Overbay and Ethan Kastner getting time in at quarterback. Going up against a North Kitsap defense that allowed 185 passing yards and a couple of touchdowns through the air, it’ll be interesting to see how the T-Birds manage their QBs this time around.
Rochester at Kingston
Rochester needed a last-minute field goal to squeak out a win over 1A Seton Catholic, 9-8. The offense will probably need a few more points to get another victory against a Kingston side that dropped 50 in its season opener.
Sequim at Tenino
The most important thing for Tenino last week was the 1 the Beavers put up in the win column; how they got there can be secondary. But a cross-classification matchup against 2A Sequim, which dropped its own opener to a 2B team with a 32-14 loss to Forks, could give them a chance to win with a bit more style this time around.
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley at Adna
Two teams that lost their openers, but came away feeling very differently. PWV had Tenino on the ropes going into the final few minutes of regulation, before a fumble on the goal line and two explosive scoring plays gave the Beavers the win. Adna, meanwhile, will just be happy to have gotten its date with Napavine out of the way early, and can focus on more evenly-matched contests from here on out.
Onalaska at Napavine
Keep the school rocks under constant surveillance this week. Napavine looked every inch the state favorites, between a four-touchdown night from Ashton Demarest and a defensive outing that held Adna to 22 total yards. Onalaska, meanwhile, is out to break a two-game mini-skid against its rivals, after having to call off its dogs after just a quarter at Oroville last weekend.
Toledo at Rainier
Last year, Rainier nearly took Toledo out with its air attack when the two sides met for the first time. This time around, passing yards will likely be in short supply, with the Mountaineers employing a new run-first offense, and the Riverhawks sticking with their option attack. Toledo did have a tough time containing Raymond-South Bend on the ground last Friday, and will have to shore a lot up to avoid going 0-2.
Morton-White Pass at White Swan
The Timberwolves sure looked good in their short-notice blowout of Ilwaco, with both Carter Dantinne and Brecken Pelletier eclipsing 100 rushing yards. Next up is a matchup against White Swan, which gave up 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to lose 20-14 to Warden last Friday.
SATURDAY
Mossyrock at Quilcene
Last year’s 8-man state runners-up, Quilcene came into the season highly ranked by just about everyone, and promptly was blown out by 30 points by Naselle last Saturday. Whether that scoreline says more about Naselle or Quilcene (or the travel issues the Rangers had getting to Pacific County over the course of two days) is yet to be seen, but Mossyrock, which looked real good against Concrete in its Week 1 game, is in a position to make a statement on the state level this Saturday.
Winlock at Concrete
It was Winlock’s defense that made the story last weekend, holding Toutle Lake to 12 (count ‘em) yards the whole game in a 30-0 win. Now, the Cardinals will get a trip to Concrete, attempting to match Mossyrock’s 60-6 blowout of the Eagles.
Oakville at Lake Quinault
Both teams’ season-openers after taking Week 1 off, there’s not a whole lot to go off of in terms of recent results here. Returning most of their players from last season, the Acorns will need to figure out the defense quickly, after allowing 55.6 points per game in 2021.
