HOQUIAM – The Hoquiam Grizzlies made history on Saturday, in more ways than one.
The Grizzlies remain undefeated on the season and reached their highest point total in a playoff game after an emphatic 49-0 win over Stevenson at Olympic Stadium.
The win moves the Grizzlies to the 1A State Tournament Quarterfinals where they will face Lynden Christian at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.
The running game played a big role in the game with Hoquiam’s Matt Brown and Antonio Garcia combining for 180 yards on the ground.
The Grizzlies earned their second playoff shutout in school history with the win, but Stevenson looked to be in good position to score on its first possession of the game. Two long passes down the sideline had the Bulldogs in good scoring position before the Grizzlies defense stalled the drive on the 15-yard line.
Hoquiam’s Payton Quintanilla stretches for a first down after scrambling for yardage on saturday night against Stevenson (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
“Our defense has done that all season. It seems like they always bend but don’t break,” said Hoquiam head coach Jeremy McMillan. “Stevenson came out sharp, but I think they play better when they get tighter.”
Brown made his presence felt on the next drive when he scored the go-ahead touchdown. Grizzlies quarterback Payton Quintanilla couldn’t find any open receivers downfield and dumped it off to Brown coming out of the backfield. The burly running back then ran 34 yards for the first score of the game. Brown broke several tackles on his way to the end zone and said getting on the board helped his team relax when he found the end zone with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter.
“It felt great,” he said. “I thought I was going to get tackled, but coach told me not to get tackled by one guy so that’s what I tried to do.”
Hoquiam’s offense got rolling after that with three touchdowns in the second quarter. Garcia punched in a short touchdown run with nine minutes left in the second, and Brown struck again with a 4-yard run with 6:14 in the frame to push the lead to 21-0. Garcia ended the game with 124 yards on 12 carries.
The combination of Brown’s physical-running style and Garcia’s speed on toss sweeps was too much for Stevenson to handle as the game went on. McMillan said a strong running game is what it takes to win this time of year.
“I’ve been a pass-heavy coordinator, but it seems like every year you get to this point and you need a running game,” he said. “You don’t know what the weather is going to be like to throw the ball. We have a competition every day for that running back position and it’s good to have four different kids that can carry it.”
The passing game helped end the first half with an exclamation point when Quintanilla found Cameron Bumstead 43 yards downfield for a diving touchdown catch to make the score 35-0 entering halftime.
Hoquiam added another touchdowns from Brown on a short 2-yard run to put the Grizzlies up 35-0, allowing some of the bench players to get in the game.
WIAA regulations dictate that the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds have to be played on turf, making the win against Stevenson the last game of the year at Olympic Stadium.
With the team setting a record of 11 straight wins at Olympic, McMillan told his players to appreciate what they’ve accomplished on the home turf.
“I’m happy for the kids, they have worked really, really hard for this,” he said. “In the post-game huddle I told them to take this in. This doesn’t happen every year.”
Stevenson 0 0 0 0 – 0
Hoquiam 7 28 7 7 – 49
Leading Passer: Hoquiam — Quintanilla (10-16, 165, 2 TD)
Leading Receiver: Hoquiam — Brown (2-45 ,TD)
Leading Rusher: Hoquiam — Garcia (12-124, 2 TD)
