The old adage of if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it rang painfully true for Hoquiam on Friday. La Center found a weakness in the Grizzlies defense and ran a power dive run play behind its fullback enough times that both sidelines and much of the crowd knew where the ball was going.
The Wildcats (3-1) rushed for 240 yards on the night to power past Hoquiam (2-2) 30-6 in a non-league contest at Olympic Stadium.
The first 18 minutes of the contest went by scoreless with both teams moving the ball, but neither defense breaking. However, after La Center’s Jeremy Scott intercepted a pass in the end zone, the Wildcats grabbed momentum for good. La Center put together seven straight run plays to drive 78 yards in a little more than three minutes.
The Wildcats had rushed for just 20 yards on 14 carries before their first touchdown drive. La Center rushed for 220 yards on 34 carries the rest of the game.
“They were controlling the line of scrimmage,” Hoquiam coach Rick Moore said. “They came in and were attacking that weak side on us in the slot. We brought the linebacker in and did some man over there and zone, even zero cover. They executed up front and that is the bottom line.”
Hoquiam’s offense sputtered throughout the contest, only accounting for 211 total yards. The Grizzlies failed to run a single offensive play in La Center territory in the second half.
Hoquiam had a chance to put the first points on the board just three minutes into the second quarter when a drive stalled at the La Center 10-yard line. But the kick from Naz Mazariegos sailed left.
The Grizzlies would answer La Center’s first score with a 7-play drive of their own, scoring on a 2-yard run by Artimus Johnson with just under a minute left in the first half. The extra point would be no good.
La Center threatened to take the lead back before half, even invoking the help of a hook and ladder play to get to the Hoquiam 5-yard line. The Wildcats would be turned away when a pass to the end zone was knocked down by Hoquiam’s Sean McAllister as time expired.
Any momentum the Grizzlies gained by turning away the Wildcats at the end of the first half was drained by the first play of the second half. La Center chipped a squib kick to Hoquiam and was able to recover the kick to give the Wildcats the ball at the Hoquiam 32-yard line. It took La Center just five plays to work its way into the end zone with Jeffrey Mayolo bulling into the end zone from three yards out. Mayolo finished with 120 yards on 27 carries, while La Center’s Brett Judd rushed for 69 yards on the night.
After Hoquiam went 3-and-out on its next possession, La Center pounded the ball for 55 yards on seven plays to grab a 20-6 lead.
A partially blocked punt followed another 3-and-out by Hoquiam to give the Wildcats the ball at midfield. La Center put together a 9-play drive, which included two of the just four pass plays the Wildcats ran in the second half, to go ahead 27-6.
La Center added a field goal with 2:39 left in the contest to cap the scoring.
“We didn’t generate any momentum for ourselves,” Moore said. “You have to feed off the energy of positive plays and we didn’t have enough positive plays tonight. It comes down to the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They just wanted it more.”
Johnson finished with 43 yards rushing and 59 yards receiving. Hoquiam quarterback Gregory Dick was the second leading rusher for the Grizzlies with 30 yards on the ground in addition to a 12-for-19 performance for 125 yards through the air.
Hoquiam hosts Tenino next Friday.
