TOLEDO — A thick haze hovered over the Toledo High School field as the Riverhawks and Pe Ell-Willapa Valley Titans stood in the postgame handshake line at midfield Friday night.
The smoke was in part due to the sizzling nature of the Riverhawks’ offense, which came alive for the third straight week in a 40-6 rout of PWV Friday. Toledo’s offense contributed 34 of those points, with the other six coming from senior Adam Kruger on a 92-yard punt return touchdown that turned the tides of the game just before halftime.
PWV had dominated the clock in the first half, limiting Toledo to just two possessions while operating long drives, including one of 16 plays that resulted in the lone Titans touchdown. But with the Riverhawks leading 12-6 and the defense showing signs of fatigue late in the first half, the unit finally forced a fourth-and-long and a punt.
Senior quarterback Eli Weeks and head coach Mike Christensen gave each other a look before the ball sailed Kruger’s way. They knew their star wideout wasn’t going down until he reached the end zone. Kruger got multiple key blocks and eluded one potential tackler along the sideline before cruising to the end zone.
“That was huge. That was crazy because in the first half we only had the ball twice and we still were able to score three times,” Christensen said. “Without that, we’re going in with a one-score game.”
PWV and Toledo played in a tight first half up until Kruger’s game-changing return. On its opening possession, PWV found its way to the edge of the red zone before Lucas Lusk fumbled and Toledo’s Matthew Martin recovered.
Toledo’s first drive started in nightmare fashion. Weeks slipped and took a sack just outside his own end zone, and the Riverhawks faced a third-and-16 at their own 1-yard line. Weeks found Brady Weeks for a 14-yard gain, and Nathan Beaver picked up 10 more on fourth down to turn the tides on a drive that seemed doomed from the start.
Weeks then unloaded a perfect throw to Kruger, who was tightly covered along the left sideline but caught the ball in the end zone without much strain because of the accuracy of his quarterback’s right arm.
On the ensuing PWV drive, the Titans drained about a third of the first-half clock on a 16-play drive, which featured a heavy dose of runs by Lusk, Eddie Clements and Spud Swogger. But it was quarterback Brody Ritzman’s arm that finished off the drive, as he connected with Blane King for a 15-yard score. Both teams failed their tries after their touchdowns, so the King touchdown evened the scoreboard at 6-6.
Beaver took over on Toledo’s second possession. Five of the six snaps were handed to the senior, who capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that was followed by another botched two-point conversion attempt.
Toledo’s defense prevented a response from the Titans, who punted it to Kruger. The Titans quickly learned that they would have been better off punting out of bounds, as Kruger housed the kick to make it 18-6 Toledo with over a minute left in the first half.
“It was a game changer,” Weeks said of the return. “We were tired. They were running on us. That was their plan: to run, get the clock down, and not let us get the ball because our offense will score. Adam doesn’t really return punts, but when he does, it goes for a long way.”
Toledo entered the locker room with an 18-6 lead knowing it carried a golden opportunity to extend the lead to start the second half, as the Riverhawks got the ball to start the third quarter. On that possession, Toledo somehow found a way to move the chains after facing a third-and-27, with a Weeks-to-Weeks connection churning 20 and a PWV defensive pass interference on fourth down keeping the drive alive.
Eli Weeks could not be stopped on the ground in the red zone, scoring standing up from 3 yards out and adding a 2-point conversion with his legs.
From that point, Toledo’s defense suffocated PWV’s offense. The Riverhawks didn’t allow a first down on PWV’s two third-quarter possessions, and Ritzman could not complete his final seven pass attempts after connecting on his first four.
Rohan Feigenbaum put the game away with a 4-yard spinning touchdown run for the Riverhawks. Weeks scored his third total touchdown, second rushing, of the night early in the fourth, and Toledo ran out the clock to win 40-6 and improve to 3-0.
“Bum Phillips used to say, ‘A big box car will run over a little one.’ That’s exactly what happened in the second half,” PWV head coach John Peterson said. “We couldn’t stop the run. We tackled really poorly. Against a team like that, that’ll hurt you. I’m not disappointed in the effort. I thought my guys played hard the whole time, but they just are bigger and stronger and faster than us.”
Weeks finished with 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine carries while completing nine of his 10 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. Beaver added 98 yards on nine carries, and Kruger supplied 80 receiving yards and a score on five receptions.
Beaver was sidelined in the third quarter with what appeared to be a dislocated finger and did not return. As Toledo was already without running back Carter Sawyer-Swofford — who was ejected in last week’s game against Goldendale — a combination of Weeks, Feigenbaum and Bode Buswell carried the run game in the second half. In total, Toledo rushed for 297 yards.
“That’s what you need. You need a stable of guys, and a big part of that’s our offensive line. Because our offensive line is so good, we have opportunities to get other guys in there that can make plays for us,” Christensen said.
PWV (2-1) will head to Winlock (1-2) next Friday, and Toledo will look to stay unbeaten when it travels to Toutle Lake on Saturday.
