Day After Report: Hockinson 14, Columbia River 13
So much about this game made it special.
The Columbia River coach called it a fun game — and his team lost.
The rain made the field a mess. But that’s because Hockinson is one of two Clark County teams in the 2A, 3A, or 4A classifications to have a grass frield. Of course, the other one is Columbia River. So yes, these two teams were destined to play each other on a night like this.
The mud helped the defense for much of the game.
But it only took one slip for the mud to help the offense.
That kind of night.
Then there was the way the game finished. Hockinson had 1:03 to play after the kickoff, down by seven, with 60-plus yards to travel.
By now you know what happened. Hook-and-ladder play for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion to go for the win. Hockinson celebration.
Fiesta Bowl:
Hockinson quarterback Canon Racanelli said his family has a special connection to the play the Hawks used to pull within one point with 20 seconds left in the game.
“My dad went to Boise State,” he said. “He kind of likes the hook-and-ladder after that Fiesta Bowl.”
Boise State beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl using that play. Also in that game, Boise State went for two for the victory.
Statistically speaking:
I love the hook-and-ladder play because it gives me a chance to explain a weird statistic: A player can have receiving yards without making a catch!
In the hook-and-ladder, the quarterback gets credited with one attempted pass, one completion, and all the yards of the play.
The receiver who catches the pass from the quarterback is credited with a catch. He also gets the yards to the point where he laterals the ball.
The guy who catches the lateral is credited with receiving yards for any yards he gains beyond where the initial guy lateraled him the ball. But the guy who catches the lateral does not get credit for a catch.
So, if this player had no catches throughout the game, he could have had “0-24” listed in the boxscore, as in zero catches for 24 yards.
In the Hockinson play, the Hawks started at the 32-yard line. Racanelli threw to Bailey Jones, who pitched the ball from the 24-yard line. (That gave Jones 1 catch for 8 yards.) Jones pitched the ball to Matt Henry, who then ran into the end zone. (That gives Henry 24 yards receiving and a receiving TD but no catch.) Racanelli gets 1 completion, 1 attempt, 32 yards, and 1 TD.Got it?
(Also, I’m doing all of this on memory because my stats rule sheet is in the office. And I’m not going all the way to the office today. I’ll fix this later if I made an error!)
By the way, the Chieftains also used the hook-and-ladder on its final play. Nathan Kunz ended up with the ball last and picked up 15 more yards after the lateral. Up until then, he had two catches for 80 yards. But in the boxscore, he finished with two catches for 95 yards.
Tough yards:
Hunter Pearson did not seem to mind the field conditions at all. The Columbia River running back recorded 135 yards on 20 carries. He also probably gained 15 pounds throughout the night. As in 15 pounds of mud caked on his uniform.
Also, this was a tough (but really, really fun) game to keep track of stats. No hash marks. So it’s an educated guess on if the ball is on, say, the 32-yard line or the 33-yard line. (But I’m pretty darn close, if not perfect!)
