TENINO — Coming into this fall, Tenino coach Darren Tinnerstet believed that his defense could get the Beavers to the postseason.
After an impressive summer, the unit impressed through the first two weeks of the season, posting a shutout win over Rainier before allowing just eight points against Kalama.
Friday’s win over Adna won’t officially go down in the books as the team’s second shutout due to an early Adna defensive touchdown, but the Beaver defense excelled again on the black turf to lead Tenino to a 28-6 win over the Pirates.
“We’re calling it a shutout,” Tinnerstet said through a chuckle. “We’re just tenacious on defense. That’s three games in a row where we’ve really gotten after it.”
Tenino (3-0) limited the Adna (1-2) offense to just 155 total yards (103 passing, 52 rushing) and allowed just eight first downs. The Pirates only made it into the red zone twice, including the final drive of the game when the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt.
Two of the best plays came back-to-back early in the fourth quarter. After a Tenino third-down sack, Miguel Espinoza snagged an interception near the sideline on fourth down to keep the momentum on the Beaver sideline.
“Everybody’s making plays,” Tinnerstet said. “It was a group effort. Couldn’t be happier.”
It was the Adna defense that made the first game-changing play of the night, as Jack Pennington returned an interception for a touchdown on Tenino’s third offensive play of the game.
The Beavers responded immediately, going 68 yards on 12 plays to score a touchdown of their own, and they took the lead on the ensuing extra point.
“We can’t harbor (the interception),” Tinnerstet said. “We know we have a really good defense. So we knew we would stay in this game.”
That defense forced two straight punts after the Tenino touchdown, and with nine minutes left in the second, the Beaver offense faced a fourth down of its own from the Adna 18.
Mason Metcalf did his best Patrick Mahomes impression, scrambling all the way to his left before reversing course across the field to his right, where he found Zadun Sadler for an 18-yard touchdown.
Metcalf and Sadler later connected on another scramble drill TD in the third, that one for 35 yards. It was Sadler’s first two varsity touchdowns.
“We didn’t draw it up that way,” Tinnerstet said. “Just athletes making plays … We were struggling on offense, we needed a spark, and there it was.”
Metcalf finished 6 for 13 through the air with 92 yards, 60 of which went to Sadler on three catches. Parker Minerich hauled in the three receptions, finishing with 32 yards.
Austin Johnson added a highlight play of his own, returning a punt 60 yards in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
“He’s always a threat to do that,” Tinnerstet said. “And he really drove the nail in the coffin on that one. He’s dangerous, and I was glad to see him get that.”
A spark never came for the Adna offense, which ran for just 2.8 yards per carry on the ground and averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt through the air.
Trevin Salme finished the night 15 for 35 through the air for 103 yards. Kannen Kephart brought down seven receptions for 47 yards, while Grayson Humphrey hauled in four catches for 31 yards. Steven O’Dell finished with 30 yards on 13 carries.
Defensively, Ryker Workman led the way with 13 tackles, while O’Dell and Cash Smith logged 10 each.
Adna coach Aaron Cochran didn’t put the blame on any one unit, instead saying that as a group, the Pirates need to improve.
“We as a team have to keep working,” Cochran said. “And we as a coaching staff have to keep working … Our kids got a lot of competitive toughness, and they’re good. We just have to be focused and get our jobs done.”
Cochran said that despite the difference in the result from Week 2, a 40-0 win over Cle Elum-Roslyn, he still feels that they got better this week.
He’s confident that there will be even more improvement before the Pirates return to the field in South Bend next Friday, Sept. 26, against Raymond-South Bend for their league opener.
“We’re really excited to get after it again,” Cochran said. “We don’t have time to waste. There’s a lot of growth that has to be made, and we’re in the process of doing that.”
Tenino will also be on the road next week, but the Beavers will be making a shorter trip. They’ll head to Tiger Stadium to face Centralia next Friday, Sept. 26.
After that, they’ll head to Montesano for their league opener the following Friday, Oct. 3.
“We’ll find out what we’re made of,” Tinnerstet said. “We’ll hopefully correct some stuff, and we should be good to go.”
