ONALASKA — Thursday night’s contest between Onalaska and Kalama wasn’t exactly the mega-matchup it has been in previous years, as the last two 2B football state champs met up in Logger Country with two wins combined after seeing each other in the state semifinals last fall.
Thursday night, though, that didn’t matter.
The Loggers seemingly put all their past frustrations this season, and maybe last, into their most complete offensive performance to date in a 48-30 victory over the Chinooks.
“That was absolutely frickin’ awesome,” Loggers coach Mazen Saade said. “Against the cards, you never know how they’re going to respond. I am so proud of these guys, Kalama’s a good team. Our showing last week against Toledo — our guys were embarrassed. Flat out. They were embarrassed and it woke them up, they don’t like to get embarrassed.”
The team’s traded blows, and words, for most of the night, with the Loggers’ taking a one-score lead into the half after forcing a turnover on downs in Kalama territory on defense, and punching in a score with 30 seconds remaining.
But the turning point finally came in the second half, when the Chinooks put together a long drive into Ony territory, and Sam Pannkuk picked off a pass and took it 80 yards to the house to give the Loggers a two-score advantage.
The Chinooks would never get within a score for the rest of the game.
Though it lacked the state-level drama and stakes that both games last year held, both teams were more than motivated to get the win. As Kalama contributors from last year responded to hecklers by pointing at their fingers — which featured rings for some injured Chinooks — Ony fans and players were quick to chant “scoreboard,” right back.
“There’s no love lost here,” Saade said. “This team knows what’s on the line everytime we play the Chinooks. They showed up, I’m proud of them. There’s a lot of alumni walking around, they’re proud of them too. It means something to all of us.”
Ony quarterback Kayden Mozingo finished with 204 rushing yards and three scores on the ground, running out of a new-look shotgun look that got the Loggers’ moving quickly. Rodrigo Rodriguez added 144 rushing yards, a two touchdowns on the ground, and a kick return for a touchdown.
The pair were the leaders of the Logger offensive onslaught.
“We pulled together, that’s all,” Mozingo said. “Our lineman came together, talked and communicated and we came in and drove it down their throat.”
Though both players earned the lionshare of yardage and scored most of the Loggers’ touchdowns, both were also quick to credit the Ony line for stepping up this week, led by Rylan McGraw and company.
“It feels great,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody at practice is working hard, but the lineman go hard everyday and make everything possible.”
Defensively, while the Loggers gave up just under 400 yards, timely plays made the difference. ‘Nooks quarterback Aiden Brown contributed to all but nine of Kalama’s plays, completing 30 of his 52 passes for 293 yards and a pair of scores, while also rushing for 100 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.
Despite the yardage allowed, the Loggers picked off two of Brown’s passes at opportune moments, and forced two key turnovers on downs that Ony then converted into points.
Saade credited his coaching staff — Wayne Nelson, Weylin Womack, Danny Dalsted, and Jeremy Neilson — for their gameplan against a Kalama offense that is still quite potent.
But after a slow start to the season, and a tough wake-up call in league play against Toledo last week, and on a short week no less, the Loggers put together their best performance of the season against one of their most hated rivals. The goal will be to celebrate accordingly, and then get ready for a non-league matchup against Stevenson next week.
“These kids deserve this,” Saade said. “They worked their asses off.”
