Prep Football Roundup: Jacks up, Scots down, Ducks drop Cards in wild Week 3
R.A. Long improves to 2-1 with bold play call at Hudson's Bay
Sam Barbee and Jordan Nailon
Blast Zone Media
R. A. Long 22, Hudson’s Bay 21
In an attempt to turn the culture at R.A. Long, Jon Barker has embraced the pirate-themed wisdom of the late Mike Leech, who popularized the motif during his tenure at Washington State.
After a roughing the passer penalty on a 15-yard fourth-down passing touchdown from Jaxson Rivenes to TraMayne Jenkins, the RAL staff huddled to make a quick decision. The verdict?
Pirates don’t play for ties.
So the Jacks went for two, and Devon Harris came open in the end zone and Rivenes found him, and the Jacks claimed its second consecutive road win.
Rivenes threw two touchdowns on 15-of-21 passing for 138 yards, and also accrued 49 yards on the ground.
Jenkins did nearly everything else. He rushed for 40 yards on just three carries, caught six passes for 74 yards and the game-winner, led the Jacks with 10 tackles, had a sack and forced a pair of fumbles.
Nicolas Niday caught Rivenes’ other TD pass and Kolby Knutsen had a rushing TD.
R.A. Long (2-1,1-0) hosts Hockinson at 7 p.m. next Friday.
Bellermine Prep 27, Kelso 24
Take a few seconds and think about where Kelso football always ends up in the postseason. Up north, right? Against a school with a familiar, if not an imfamous name, right?
Well, Kelso got that out of the way, and almost pulled it off.
On the road at Bellermine Prep, the alma mater of longtime NBA player Avery Bradley and World Series-winning left-hander Jon Lester, the Hilanders got a huge night from Aden Mintoye and game-tying field goal from Tate Meade.
“We did a lot of things I wanted us to do,” Kelso coach Steve Amrine said. “It’s just frustrating our kids didn’t get to come out with a victory.”
Mintoye rushed for 317 yards and three touchdowns in Tacoma on Friday.
The speedy Scot scored on runs of 28, 12 and 81 yards to power the Kelso offense. He also had three catches 17 yards. The senior who transferred from out of state before last season has passed the 700 yard mark already this season, and that’s even with a lighter workload in Week 1 against Mark Morris.
“He’s special,” Amrine said of Mintonye. “But we got to find a way to take the load off him a little bit with some other stuff.”
Meade booted his 25-yard field goal with 2:05 to play in the final period, but the Lions’ Cal Tsuneyoshi successfully converted a 22-yard field goal with 27 seconds left to secure the win.
“I think we learned a lot of if we use it in a positive way it will help us grow as a football team,” Amrine said. “We lost on the scoreboard, but it’s a really weird feeling. I don’t think we got beat in a football game. It doesn’t feel like we lost that football game.”
Kelso (2-1) heads back up the interstate to play at Bremerton on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Woodland 12, Washougal 0
The Beavers did all of their damage in the first half and held on for the shutout in a 12-0 league win over Washougal.
Elijah Andersen scored both Woodland touchdowns, and led the team with 188 rushing yards on 37 carries. Andersen also completed half of a dozen pass attempts for 40 yards.
Karsen Northcut added 56 yards on 14 carries and caught three passes for 31 yards in the win.
Josiah Graham pulled down an interception and got his head in on seven tackles in the shutout. Andersen added 10 tackles and Chase Hall hauled in an interception.
“The defensive line played great and set the tone from the opening drive,” Woodland coach Glen Flanagan said following his first win.
Woodland (1-2, 1-0 league) will host Columbia River next Friday at 7 p.m.
Seton Catholic 48, Castle Rock 14
The Rockets fell behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter and couldn’t muster enough offense to get back to even against the Cougars, Friday.
Trevor Rogen threw a pair of touchdown passes in the contest to give Castle Rock its only scoring plays of the day. In the second quarter Rogen hit Owen Langdon for an 18-yard touchdown pass, and in the third quarter he connected with Aiden Meade from two yards out.
All told, Rogen completed half of his 20 passes for 108 yards. Langdon caught four of those tosses for 57 yards.
Jacob Lafever led the Rockets’ rushing attack with just 31 yards on 10 carries.
Seton Catholic (3-0) amassed 364 total yards on the way to victory while holding The Rock to just 174 yards of offense. Thatcher Heller pulled down an interception for the Rockets while Logan Engkraf led the defense with four solo tackles and three assists.
Castle Rock (2-1, 0-1 league) will play at Stevenson on Friday at 7 p.m.
Ilwaco 28, Wahkiakum 20
This physicality of football is something that has to be experienced before it can be adequately performed. The innate notion of self-preservation must be tossed aside, ignored, forgotten; There’s the ball carrier, I must eliminate him.
You can’t be successful while caring about your physical health.
After a 28-20 loss to Ilwaco in a hybrid 8/11-man football game, Wahkiakum coach Ryan Lorenzo said that mentality was discovered and committed to, led by a secret meeting by his team leaders during the week.
“Of course we want to win, but we finally showed up to play a real football game,” he said. “So that was nice. That’s what we were preaching all week. Football is physical. We’ve got to be physical. A lot of guys played really physical. They were flying to the football.”
Employing an RPO-heavy offense with a run-first quarterback in Jaden Sodderd, the Mules racked up 249 passing yards, but had trouble on the ground.
Joe Merz, a freshman hard runner, was held to a single digit, but was close to breaking a few runs. Lorenzo said they were one block away from big runs on several occasions. Mason Wallbeck added about 30 yards from the fullback spot.
And yet, it’s the stats that matter the most in the end. Especially the points.
To that end, Ilwaco scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to take over the pole position and never let the Mules steal away enough of their momentum. Corbin Johnson starred again for the Fishermen, carrying the ball 18 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns and returning a fumble 52-yards for another touchdown.
Cody Miller added 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in the win.
Ilwaco (3-0) will host Morton-White Pass on Friday at 7 p.m.
Wahkiakum (0-3) meets Oakville next for a 7 p.m. kick next Friday.
Toutle Lake 35, Winlock 6
Austin Webber rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns and Dom (Rivera) Settlemier added another 102 yards and a ground score, and all of a sudden the Ducks have a winning streak to consider.
Tied at 6-6 going into half, Toutle Lake made some adjustments on offense and everything came together.
Max Kasimov added a short-yardage touchdown and Jamison Schelb got in the end zone, as well, got the Fighting Ducks.
James Cusson scored Winlock’s only points on a 4-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.
Winlock (0-3) will play at Mossyrock on Friday at 7 p.m.
Toutle Lake (2-1, 1-0) travels to Toledo on Friday for a 7 p.m. start.
Toledo 48, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley 29
The Riverhawks had to play catchup, Friday in Menlo, but came away with a compelling victory nonetheless. Adam Kruger caught seven passes for 187 yards and the first three touchdowns of his varsity career.
Still, Toledo fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter and trailed 23-20 at halftime. After the intermission, though, the Riverhawks defense dug in and held the Titans of Highway 6 to just six points the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, quarterback Eli Weeks accounted for nearly 292 yards of overall offense with six touchdowns. Carter Swofford toted the pigskin for 137 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in the win.
Toledo (3-0) will host Toutle Lake on Friday at 7 p.m.
Naselle 64, Sound Christian 6
The Comets burst out of the gate with 44 points in the first quarter, Friday, in their first game without senior standout Jacob Lindstrom. That hot start led to a 58-point victory and made Naselle believe it can win anyway going forward.
Leith Chadwick stepped in at quarterback and completed 7 of 8 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Gus Buckhalter led the rushing attack with 93 yards and two touchdowns on three carries. Jack Strange added 61 yards and two touchdowns on three carries, while Caiden Burke picked up 58 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
Scott Hennington caught two touchdown passes totaling 51 yards in the win and Strange hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass from his new signal caller.
Gunnar Gill, Kyle Pakenen and Eli Gardner all turned in five tackles to lead the Naselle defense. Hennington and Strange each notched interceptions, with Strange and Pakenen recovering fumbles along the way.
Naselle (3-0) will play at Evergreen Lutheran on Friday at 7 p.m.
Clatskanie 49, Vernonia/Jewell 14
The Tigers saw their offense break out in a big way after making the trek over the river and through the woods, Friday, a picked up the season’s first win.
“Quarterback Dayton Gutierrez had a big game for us,” Clatskanie coach Sean Gorley said. “Lucas Andreason was our work horse, and Ryder Gorley provided some explosive plays for us.”
Clatskanie was nearly as good on defense, allowing just two touchdowns and playing a tough brand of football that will serve it well as the season reaches the midway point.
”By far the most physical we have played all year,” Gorley added. “We dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
Ben Blackwood, Russ Carer, Lucas Andreason and Ryder Gorley helped to set the tone for the Tigers on defense.
Clatskanie (1-2) will host Gaston next Friday at 7 p.m.
Yamhill-Carlton 35, Rainier 8
Angel Becerra rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown and Adrian Nguyen added 56 yards but the Columbians couldnt’ keep pace in their league opener.
Gage Mohammed had five tackles and an interception defensively for Rainier.
Rainier (0-3, 0-1) hosts Valley Catholic next Friday at 7 p.m.
OTHER SCORES YOU MIGHT CARE ABOUT
GSHL 3A
Evergreen 49, North Thurston 0
Union 21, Mountain View 0
Prairie 43, Battle Ground 38
GSHL 2A
Mark Morris 14, Columbia River 0
Ridgefield 24, Hockinson 21
Trico 1A
Kalama 30, King’s Way 20
Stevenson 21, Fort Vancouver 7
La Center 61, Columbia- White Salmon 0
Central 2B
Onalaska 62, Mossyrock 8