With each passing week the tension mounts.
With each victory, a moment of relief, … until the stress builds again a week later.
Four games. … Four games to a state championship, and ultimate glory.
And for the Hoquiam Grizzlies and Montesano Bulldogs —the two remaining Twin Harbors prep football teams playing in their respective state football tournament —that journey for state supremacy continues on Saturday.
Hoquiam at Mt. Baker
When and Where: 2 p.m. Saturday, Civic Stadium, Bellingham
Players to Watch: Hoquiam — Dane McMillan QB; Malaki Eaton RB; Cameron Bumstead WR. Mt. Baker — Mason Jacoby QB; Jason Lee RB; Mark Tikonov DB
The Hoquiam Grizzlies were nothing short of impressive in picking up a 50-22 crossover win on the road against a Castle Rock team that had won seven of its previous eight games.
Grizzlies running back Makali Eaton passed the 1,000-yard mark after rushing for 244 yards and four touchdowns to lead Hoquiam, which earned its sixth consecutive trip to the state tournament with the victory.
Hoquiam’s offense has been clicking over the past two weeks, racking up 943 total yards of offense in wins over Forks and the aforementioned Rockets.
The No. 12 Grizzlies will have another tough test on the road against the 5th-seeded Mountaineers, which have been rated in the top five of most state polls the entire season.
Mt. Baker (9-1) destroyed South Whidbey 54-7 in last week’s crossover game and have a talented offense that can put up points and a stout defense.
The Mountaineers have scored less than 24 points in a game just once this season and have key league victories over Lynden Christian and Meridian (twice), both of which also earned state-tournament berths.
Mt. Baker was led by running back Jason Lee, who scored four touchdowns against South Whidbey and Mark Tikonov, who picked off two passes for a Mountaineers defense that had five takeaways on the evening.
The game will not be played at the Mountaineers home field as it is a grass field and according to news reports, is not in a playable condition. The game will be played on the turf field of Civic Stadium in Bellingham at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Meridian at Montesano
Montesano wide receiver Sam Winter (12), the 1A Evergreen co-league MVP, looks for room to run against Elma on Nov. 1. Montesano hosts Meridian in the first round of the 1A State Football Tournament on Saturday. (Photo by Shawn Donnelly)
When and Where: 6 p.m. Saturday at Jack Rottle Field
Players to Watch: Montesano — Trace Ridgway QB; Sam Winter WR/LB; Brent Hollatz RB/DB. Meridian — Cam Webster QB, Trent Martin RB, Ryan Johnson WR
After running the table in the regular season and continuing its dominant ways in a crossover-game rout of King’s Way Christian, the Montesano Bulldogs earned a No. 3 seed and home-field advantage for the opening round of the 1A State Tournament.
The Bulldogs will host the 14th-seeded Meridian Trojans at 6 p.m. on Saturday to open the state playoffs.
After a bit of an apprehensive start in Friday’s game, Montesano (10-0) turned up the heat in the second half en route to its 10th blowout victory in as many games this season.
Up by two touchdowns against KWC at the half, Monte scored 20 unanswered points en route to a 58-14 victory. It was the fifth time this season Monte has scored more than 50 points in a game and the 14 points allowed is tied for the most points the Bulldogs have given up this season.
Monte was led by quarterback Trace Ridgway and an outstanding defense. Ridgway, who along with teammate Sam Winter was named the 1A Evergreen League co-MVP, threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns as Monte racked up 566 total yards of offense on Friday.
The Bulldogs defense shut down the Knights in the second half, allowing just 80 yards of offense over the final 24 minutes of the game.
When considering Monte’s first-round opponent, the Meridian Trojans, the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” is applicable.
On paper, Meridian doesn’t sport the type of eye-catching record that Monte does, having gone 4-7 this season and finishing in third place in the Northwest Conference.
But a deeper dive into the Trojans’ schedule reveals that their four league losses were to top-10 teams Lynden Christian and Mt. Baker (twice each) after suffering three losses in a non-conference schedule that included state-bound Colville and 2A Sedro-Woolley.
Meridian is battle-tested and has been on a roll against playoff competition. The Trojans bounced Granite Falls 44-8 in a play-in game on Nov. 5 and demolished Kings 71-30 in a district crossover game four days later.
In that crossover win, Meridian’s dual-threat quarterback, Cam Webster, threw for 175 yards and ran for over 100 more in the Trojans’ most lopsided victory of the season. The first-year senior signal-caller led all Whatcom County quarterbacks with over 2,000 total yards this season.
