Day After Report Part 2 (3A, 2A, 1A, B): Week 3
Going to go through the 3A, 2A, 1A, and even a B school in this part. For the Day After Report for the 4A GSHL, click here.
Let’s start with the small school. As in the smallest 1A school in the state, the Seton Catholic Cougars. Seton has the numbers for a Class 1B program but not only opted up one class, but two, in order to get into a better league with a more favorable travel schedule. Oh, and did I mention this is the first year for the Cougars as a varsity program?
So let me give a shout out to the Seton crowd. I was able to attend the game because it was on Saturday night. No offense, but I would not have gone to a Woodland-Seton game on a Friday night. But I enjoy getting the chance to see teams I rarely see. And in the case of Seton, it was my first time ever seeing the team.
I loved the atmosphere at Doc Harris Stadium, the temporary home for the Cougars. One gets a sense that their fans understand what is going on this year. The team is going to take its hits this season but build for the future. Their fans seem to appreciate the effort on the field, especially Saturday, when the Cougars faced one of the biggest 1A teams in the state, a team that was a 2A program last year.
The game went as predicted. Woodland scored a lot, early, and Seton did not. In fact, the Cougars went three-and-out on their first three possessions. Woodland scored touchdowns on its first three possessions.
But here was the cool thing: The Cougars picked up their first first down on that fourth possession, and their fans cheered as if they were driving for a game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
James Henkels, a sophomore running back, had a six-yard run on his first carry of the night. He added two more on the next play, setting up third-and-2. Quarterback Riley McShane kept the ball on an option, gained seven yards and picked up that initial first down. Cue crowd going crazy.
The Seton fans also stayed until the end. Their team was down 59-0 when McShane found Erik Powell on a 17-yard touchdown pass with just a little more than two minutes left in the game.
Now to more notes from that game and the others. …
WOODLAND 66, SETON CATHOLIC 6
We all knew it would be a Woodland victory. No surprise here.
No hard feelings: Woodland’s Troy Flanagan became the game’s leading rusher on his one carry of the game, on the last play of the game. He broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run. Hey, can’t ask a sophomore to stop running, even if his team was up by 53 points.
Seton coach Dan Chase had no problem with it, nor the final score. Woodland, after all, played its JV guys in the second quarter. Sure, the starters came back for a series in the second half, but that’s normal protocol. Chase said he appreciated how Woodland played his team Saturday. Tough, of course, but also with compassion.
Yes, the margin could have been larger.
Remember when …: Allow me to continue my season-long quest of talking to high school coaches about their first experiences as a starting varsity football player. Dan Chase recalls a victory. Woodland coach Mark Greenleaf has a real interesting story to tell.
First, Chase.
It was his junior year at Evergreen. The starting quarterback was injured, so Chase was called to start against Columbia River. His Plainsmen won 31-7.
“I was so naive back then,” Chase said. “I didn’t realize how big of a game it was.”
How did he do?
“Well enough to win, I guess.”
Greenleaf would like to tell us a story, but he cannot. He never played high school football. He had Osgood Schlatter disease — pretty much painful lumps below the knees that usually affect adolescents.
After high school, he joined the Air Force, then started playing semi-pro ball overseas. When he returned home, he went to Central Washington University and walked on to that squad.
He made up for lost time, learning the game and eventually becoming a coach.
“I learned really fast playing college football,” he said.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW 37, BONNEY LAKE 27
Thunder rally a couple times for the road win.
Just keep fighting: The Thunder trailed 20-9, then scored the next two touchdowns to take the lead. But Bonney Lake responded with another touchdown for a 27-23 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
No problem.
Carl Falls scored on a 56-yard touchdown run to give the lead back to the Thunder. The Mountain View defense then stopped Bonney Lake on a fourth-and-1 play, and Russel Culverwell added an 11-yard touchdown run to ice the game.
That’s two in a row for the Thunder, both comeback victories. Evergreen led Mountain View 14-7 in the second quarter last week before the Thunder prevailed 38-21.
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MARK MORRIS 20, COLUMBIA RIVER 6
The Chieftains struggled without starting quarterback Clayton Frank.
QB update: The Chieftains learned on Tuesday that Clayton Frank would not be able to play in Friday’s game. Jonathan Branson, the back-up quarterback, gets his reps during the JV games. He played a JV game Monday, then found out on Tuesday he was going to play that week on varsity.
“We didn’t really change much,” Columbia River coach John O’Rourke said. “I think passing proved to be difficult. The game kind of speeds up.”
As far as Frank’s availability, O’Rourke said they will know more on Monday. If he is cleared to practice, look for Frank to play in Week 4.
Individually speaking: Columbia River’s David Snuffin had eight tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Clark Bryant had six tackles, an interception, and a pass break-up for the Chieftains.
Mark Morris’ Keigan Baker rushed for 151 yards, including 129 in the second half. Austin Johnson had two TD runs for the Monarchs, plus a sack, two other tackles-for-loss, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
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WASHOUGAL 74, FORT VANCOUVER 6
Panthers bounce back from a Week 2 loss, let out frustrations on the Trappers.
Statistically speaking: We are not 100 percent certain of how all the scores were made, nor how much offense Washougal had. There have been some who disputed our stats in the paper. We had one of our new freelancers at this game, a person just learning how to stat a football game. He is improving, and we hope to correct any miscues.
At the same time, we have had no success contacting the Washougal coaching staff in regard to statistics. We still have nothing from the Week 2 game. So until we get those Week 2 figures, and the correct numbers from Week 3, we will not update Washougal numbers in our stats data base.
Hopefully we’ll get that soon, because when a team scores 74 points, that’s a lot of positive numbers for that team.
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HOCKINSON 43, HUDSON’S BAY 8
Hockinson rolls to 3-0 start.
Home away from home: This was the second consecutive win for the Hawks at Kiggins Bowl. Hockinson beat Fort Vancouver last week.
Blue flags aplenty: There was a lot of prostate cancer awareness going on during the first quarter at Kiggins Bowl, as both teams were flagged for a combined 11 penalties for 70 yards.
The two teams combined for nine more penalties the rest of the game.
Game officials were using blue flags Friday in their annual Blue Flag Night to raise awareness for prostate cancer.
No catch for lineman: A blue flag cost Hudson’s Bay offensive lineman Jovanny Quintero a chance to record a four-yard reception during the second quarter.
Back-up quarterback Anthony Sanchez attempted a pass, which was batted into the air by a Hockinson defender. Quintero alertly caught the deflected pass and advanced it four yards. However, the Eagles were flagged for a penalty, erasing the catch.
Nice play at halftime: Austen Johnson led Hockinson in rushing with 90 yards on five carries. But his best play of the night might have come at halftime.
Johnson asked out Haley Landon, a Hockinson cheerleader, to the Hockinson homecoming dance. The public address announcer at Kiggins Bowl asked Landon to come out onto the field. Johnson, through the announcer, asked Landon to the dance. By all accounts, she accepted as Johnson returned to midfield and the two embraced.
Well payed, Austen. Well played.
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LA CENTER 41, KALAMA 16
Wildcats roll to another win.
Pass-happy La Center: The Wildcats, known for their running attack, now know about the forward pass. Check out our statistics. There’s Dylan King, the La Center quarterback, second in the region in touchdown passes.
They can still run, too: Jared Huddleston had TD runs of 62 and 45 yards in the romp. La Center scored four touchdowns in the first quarter to put this away early.
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RIVER RIDGE 61, RIDGEFIELD 40
Spudders fall behind by a bunch early, score late.
Momentum: Sure, it probably was against the back-ups, and yes, the game was out of reach, but the Spudders have got to feel a little better about themselves after scoring 32 points in the fourth quarter.
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KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 70, RAINIER CHRISTIAN 14
Another big game for King’s Way.
Practice small, play big: I had a chance to stop by King’s Way earlier in the week and watched the football team practice on a patch of grass just off the school’s parking lot. It was about as big as a large putting green. There was no room for long bombs on this field, as the team awaits the opening of its stadium.
Good thing it’s 8-man football. The team doesn’t need that much room.
Well, in games, the team needs a lot of room to run free. As in free for 70 points.
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That’s it for Week 3.
Thanks to Rene Ferran for notes from the Columbia River game. Thanks to Tim Martinez with Hockinson-Hudson’s Bay notes.
Next week’s Day After Reports most likely will be delayed.
