Hoquiam picked up its second win of the season while Aberdeen and Elma lost to league foes as we review Twin Harbors prep football games for Week 5 of the 2024 season.
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PREP FOOTBALL
Hoquiam 14, Toutle Lake 13
Hoquiam held on for a 14-13 win over Toutle Lake on Friday at Toutle Lake High School.
The Grizzlies (2-3 overall) took a 14-0 lead on second-quarter rushing touchdowns by running backs Winston Kaikaka and Kingston Case, with kicker Ethan Byron converting both point-after attempts.
Toutle Lake scored a touchdown to cut the Grizzlies lead to 14-7 at halftime and added another scored in the third to make it a one-point game.
Despite not scoring a point in the second half, Hoquiam held on for the victory.
“We were in the red zone all night and just couldn’t execute. Dropped passes and turnovers stopped drives in the red zone,” Hoquiam head coach Jeremy McMillan said. “I was proud of the kids for overcoming some turnovers and moving forward from last week’s game.”
Hoquiam was led by Case and Kaikaka, which combined for 187 rushing yards in the game.
PHOTO BY PATTI REYNVAAN Hoquiam running back Kingston Case (5) looks for running room during a 14-13 win over Toutle Lake on Friday at Toutle Lake High School.
McMillan gave credit to his coaches and line play on both sides of the ball.
“Our coaches did a great job all week of preparing their positions for this game,” he said. “Offensively, our offensive line played one of their best games with AJ Young, Nick Estes, Ryan Pullar, Edgar Tobar and Jerry Jeremiah. … Defensively, we disrupted their scheme and got them off script. Our defensive line came up big when we needed it with Pullar, Tobar and Young stepping up.”
Kaikaka led the Grizzlies in tackles with eight from his linebacker spot whole Case had four tackles and three pass defenses while lineman Tristan Bland recorded a sack in the win.
“Toutle Lake is a tough football team,” McMillan said. “This was a great non-league matchup for us. It’s always tough to play on the road, especially somewhere that none of us had ever been before.”
Hoquiam hosts Tenino in the Grizzlies’ 1A Evergreen League opener at 7 p.m. Friday at Olympic Stadium.
Hoquiam 0 14 0 0 – 14
Toutle Lake 0 7 6 0 – 13
Passing: H – Bozich 6-15-1-97.
Rushing: H – Case 24-133, Kaikaka 4-54, Bozich 7-6.
Receiving: H – Case 2-26, Niemi 2-21, Byron 1-52, Dayton 1-(-2).
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W.F. West 47, Aberdeen 12
Aberdeen’s young Bobcats were no match for a top-10 W.F. West team in a 47-12 loss on Friday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen (1-4, 0-1 2A Evergreen) lost its league opener after allowing 20 points in each of the first two quarters to trail 40-0 by halftime against the 9th-ranked Bearcats (5-0, 1-0).
Trailing 47-7 in the fourth quarter with a running clock, the Bobcats scored on a 1-yard plunge from running back Micah Schroeder followed later in the frame when receiver Adonis Hammonds caught a 4-yard pass from quarterback Mason Hill for a score.
”We are still trying to establish our running game and we got their varsity to punt once, so that was good,” Aberdeen head coach Todd Bridge said. “We forced their offense to work for their yards in the second half. … The kids never quit and that says something about we never rolled over. We never had one guy asked to be subbed out. This is a very fun group of young men to coach. Just scrappy, like a Bobcat.”
Running back Riley Wixson led Aberdeen with 66 rushing yards on eight carries.
Hill struggled throwing the ball against the Bearcats pass defense, completing 1 of 11 passes for four yards with two interceptions.
The Bobcats had 142 yards of offense to 376 for W.F. West. The Bearcats outgained the Bobcats 315-56 in the first half.
Things don’t get any easier next week as the Bobcats host No. 2 Tumwater at 7 p.m. at Stewart Field.
WFW 20 20 7 0 – 47
Aberdeen 0 0 0 12 – 12
Scoring
First quarter
WFW – Guyette 1 run (Kelley kick), 8:27
WFW – Westlund 4 pass from Brumfield (Kelley kick), 5:35
WFW – Brumfield 29 run, 2:48
Second quarter
WFW – Land 21 pass from Brumfield, 11:47
WFW – Land 4 run (Kelley kick), 10:03
WFW – Land 76 pass from Brumfield (Kelley kick), 1:39
Third quarter
WFW – Kelley 3 pass from Brumfield (Kelley kick), 5:52
Fourth quarter
A – Schroeder 1 run, 9:25
A – Hammonds 2 pass from Hill, 0:13
Passing: WFW – Brumfield 8-12-0-177. A – Hill 1-11-2-2.
Rushing: WFW – Brumfield 6-102, Guyette 9-71, Land 5-33, Martin 3-(-7). A – R. Wixson 8-66, Schroeder 18-58, Vessey 10-9, Martin 1-4, Crowder 1-2, Hill 1-1.
Receiving: WFW – Land 2-97, Kelley 4-62, Westlund 1-4, White 1-14. A – Hammonds 1-2.
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Rochester 43, Elma 0
Elma suffered its third loss in a row with a 43-0 loss to Rochester on Friday at Davis Field in Elma.
The Eagles (2-3, 0-1 1A Evergreen) fell behind 7-0 after the Warriors (3-2, 1-0) took a first-quarter Elma punt and drove 53 yards on 11 plays, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Tristan Nelson.
Looking to tie the game, Elma embarked on a long drive down to the Rochester 22-yard line. But a fumble by Eagles quarterback Isaac McGaffey was recovered by the Warriors, who then drove the ball 78 yards to take a 14-0 lead on a Xander Peterman 3-yard TD run.
An interception on Elma’s next drive turned into seven more Warriors points a few plays later and – after an Elma drive stalled out at the Rochester 40-yard line – the Warriors took a 28-0 halftime lead on a 1-yard scoring plunge by Ethan Rodriguez.
Elma’s Donavyn Kalakosky recovered a Rochester fumble early in the third quarter, with the Eagles offense driving to the Warriors 17.
But once again, the Eagles offense couldn’t cash in as McGaffey was sacked on 4th and 11 to turn the ball back over to Rochester.
Rodriguez then broke a 73-yard touchdown run on the very next play to leave little doubt as to the outcome.
Rochester didn’t attempt a pass as the Warriors run game racked up 365 yards in 49 plays from scrimmage.
Elma had 175 yards of offense, 84 on the ground and 91 through the air as McGaffey went 10 for 21 for 91 yards and an interception.
Colt Landstrom (3-42) and Ethan Camus (3-36) caught three passes each while Kolby Rademacher led Elma with 12 rushes for 38 yards.
Elma has a non-league game against Black Hills at 7 p.m. on Friday in Tumwater.
Rochester 7 21 7 8 – 43
Elma 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring
First quarter
R – Nelson 1 run (Castillo kick)
Second quarter
R – Peterman 3 run (Castillo kick)
R – Rotter 1 run (Castillo kick)
R – Rodriguez 23 run (Castillo kick)
Third quarter
R – Rodriguez 73 run (Castillo kick)
Fourth quarter
R – Delgado 23 run (Rotter run)
Passing: E – McGaffey 10-21-1-91.
Rushing: R – Rodrugiez 11-165, Dalgado 5-49, Rotter 6-34, Peterman 10-31, Mathews 3-24, Tartios 2-21, Nelson 5-15, Simpkins 3-11, Austin 2-9, Smith 1-5, Patrick 1-1. E – Rademacher 12-38, McGaffey 11-29, Salazar 1-18, Muller 2-7, Carter 1-(-3), Camus 1-(-5).
Receiving: E – Landstrom 3-42, Camus 3-36, Amaya 1-12, Carter 1-4, Brookins 2-(-3).
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Wahkiakum 50, Ocosta 28
Ocosta saw the game get away in the second half with a 50-28 loss to Wahkiakum on Friday in Westport.
The Wildcats (3-2, 3-2 SWW 8-man) were down 14-0 in the second quarter before Ronin Rutzer put Ocosta on the board with touchdown runs of eight and four yards. Ocosta converted both two-point conversions to take a 16-14 lead.
The the lead was short-lived as Wahkiakum (2-3, 2-2) scored twice more to take a 30-16 halftime lead.
Ocosta kept it close with a 2-yard scoring run by Benjamin Tackett in the third quarter, but the defense couldn’t stop the Mules en route to the loss.
Ocosta quarterback Kayden Turner went 6 for 11 passing for 77 yards and two interceptions.
Turner was also the game’s second leading rusher, carrying the ball 21 times for 134 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown in the final period to cap Ocosta’s score.
Rutzer led all rushers with 169 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.
Ocosta takes on Taholah at 7 p.m. on Friday in Taholah.
Passing: W – Stoddard 10-16-0-274. O – Turner 6-11-2-77.
Rushing: W – Stoddard 4-94, Merz 3-20, Waldeck 2-7, West 2-5. O – Rutzer 28-169, Turner 21-134, Tackett 12-40, Ceja Guevara 1-0.
Receiving: W – Robinson 3-101, Leitz 3-71, Waldeck 2-66, West 1-35, Merz 1-1. O – Rutzer 2-33, Bonina 2-32, Tackett 1-10, Sevilla 1-2.
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WA School for Deaf 40, Lake Quinault 29
Lake Quinault is dealing with quite a bit of on and off-field issues after a 40-29 loss to the Washington School for the Deaf on Thursday in Vancouver.
A once-proud Elks program that won a 6-man conference championship two seasons ago has dropped three straight games to open the season after Thursday’s loss.
The Elks (0-3, 0-2 1B Coastal 6-man) trailed the Terriers (1-2, 1-2) 21-6 at the half and have struggled to keep players consistently on the field after school administrators implemented a new eligibility grading scale requiring student-athletes to earn at least a C in every class.
The policy has left the team dealing with players being deemed ineligible/eligible on a day to day basis, making it difficult for head coach Melvyn Houtz to find consistency in the roster and in the game plan.
“For example, I had a player that was eligible every single day, but the day before the game, he became ineligible, so he couldn’t play in the game,” said Houtz, who had 14 players eligible for Thursday’s game and hopes to have more available for their upcoming game against Wishkah Valley. “I’ll probably get more back, but we’ll see what happens.”
Houtz added the new grading system allows for players to practice even if they are ineligible. That can make it difficult to practice with certain personnel leading up to a game if players won’t be available at kickoff.
“The old system was if you were ineligible, you can’t practice at all,” he said. “In this system, you can practice and become eligible at any time, but in football that’s tough because I’m game-planning for that week. You’re hoping as a coach (a player) is going to become eligible.”
Elks junior Cheney Mason scored two touchdowns to lead Lake Quinault and drew praise from his head coach for his play on the field and his passionate leadership on the sideline.
“He stood out to me,” Houtz said of his junior offensive guard/fullback. “He struggled with getting eligible and he finally got eligible and he had an outstanding game. He was very happy to be playing.”
Houtz said dealing with a young team struggling with eligibility issues in the midst of a losing streak has been unfamiliar territory for the Elks, but he hopes it will build character.
“It’s hard for my team because this program has been so successful over the past three years, losing takes a toll on them. I have to teach these guys how to respond from losing to make them win, if that makes sense,” he said. “It’s a learning experience for life. … Do they want it more or are they going to give up. This is part of the becoming-a-man process.”
Lake Quinault hosts Wishkah Valley at noon on Saturday.
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Other games
Naselle 78, North Beach 0
Oakville 32, Taholah 30
