ROCHESTER — The Rochester Warriors didn’t need any motivation.
But they sought it out.
They stared into the eyes of a lingering heartbreak, a pain that’s gnawed at their psyche for 364 days, and they came out on the other side.
Nearly one year to the day that the Tenino Beavers shocked the Rochester Warriors to win the Scatter Creek Showdown, Rochester swiped back the trophy in a 46-0 pounding over its rivals on a muddy Friday night.
In the team’s film session on Monday, Rochester coaches showed their players a slideshow of Tenino’s “photoshoot” with the Scatter Creek Showdown trophy from last season. Players burned the images into their minds one last time Friday as the slideshow appeared on their screen in the weight room just before game time.
“We used those photos to get amped up and have a chip on our shoulder,” Rochester senior running back Ethan Rodriguez said. “And it worked out great.”
Not only were the Warriors motivated from last year’s loss to Tenino, but they were also looking to bounce back from last week’s crushing defeat to Montesano. In that game, Rochester came up empty on its long opening drive, but the Warriors made sure their first possession resulted in points on Friday.
Xander Peterman put the Warriors on the board first with a 32-yard touchdown run, and Rodriguez’s 2-point plunge gave Rochester an 8-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. The Warriors’ defense held Tenino without a first down on its first possession, and Rochester extended its lead with a 53-yard Maddox Rodgers sprint and a 2-point pass to make it 16-0 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Rochester’s defense proved it had no other plans but to dominate. After Tenino advanced into Rochester territory, the Beavers faced a fourth-and-10 at the Warriors 24, and Rochester’s coaches warned their players from the sideline of a double-pass trick play. That’s exactly what Tenino ran, and Rochester defended it well to force a turnover on downs.
“We felt that last week against Monte that we weren’t as physical as we would like to be for four quarters,” Rochester head coach AJ Easley said of the defense. “That was the whole focus this week. It was less on what Tenino was going to do and more of how we needed to play. We got after it defensively.”
Rodriguez went ballistic to start the second quarter, including his best Saquon Barkley impression on a second-and-2 carry where his jersey was yanked for about seven yards before he hurdled another defender for a first down. His next touch was an easy 11-yard touchdown run to give the Warriors a comfortable 24-0 lead at halftime.
All hell broke loose in the second half with nine total fumbles, including two lost by each team, three botched Tenino snaps, two kickoffs the Beavers fumbled and recovered, a blocked Tenino punt recovered by Rochester, and an interception by Rochester.
The first fumble of the second half came on Tenino’s opening kickoff return. Rodriguez stuck multiple daggers in the Beavers’ hearts in the final 24 minutes, starting with a 7-yard score after the kickoff return mishap and then on an 87-yard touchdown run.
On senior night, senior lineman Wyatt Dahl earned his first varsity touchdown on a 2-yard plunge for the Warriors’ final score of the night in their 46-0 victory. He made up for a missed 2-point conversion carry in the third quarter with the fourth-quarter score.
“I played a little bit of running back in Pee Wee and fullback in middle school, but this was my first high school touchdown,” Dahl said. “It was awesome. I almost had the 2-point (conversion), but I knew I was gonna get my retaliation. I made sure I got it.”
Rochester got its retaliation against Tenino in the first Scatter Creek Showdown matchup in Rochester since 2022. The senior-heavy Warriors raced to the end zone after the game to hoist the trophy that eluded them a season ago. Rodriguez especially didn’t want to let the trophy down.
“It feels great. We put a big goose egg on the board,” he said. “We did our jobs. If we do what we do, that’s what happens.”
Tenino (6-2, 2-2 Evergreen) is 0-2 against the top two teams in the league, losing by a combined score of 95-0 to Montesano and Rochester. Against their other six opponents, the Beavers have allowed just 8.33 points.
“It’s disappointing. Our goal was to make the playoffs this year, and we did that job, but we just made our road a heck of a lot harder,” Tenino head coach Darren Tinnerstet said. “Those are two teams you’ve got to beat, and we didn’t score a single point against either one of them, so we’ve got a long way to go.”
Rochester (6-2, 2-1 Evergreen) clinches the second spot in the Evergreen League while Tenino finishes 2-2 in league play for the second straight year, as the Beavers visit Aberdeen in a non-league contest next Thursday.
