A shorthanded Grays Harbor Bearcats took to the Stewart Field turf on Saturday night and gave the Cowlitz County Cobras everything they had until it was too far to come back.
The Bearcats employed an “all hands on deck” approach to their offensive and defensive units due to injuries and other commitments and fought hard with the Cobras in a 38-13 Western Washington Football Alliance Division III loss.
The visiting Cobras parlayed four interceptions into touchdowns — three of them were returned for a touchdown, while a fourth one was nearly returned, but fumbled and then returned for a score — to secure the win.
“The guys didn’t quick; they kept battling,” Grays Harbor head coach and starting center Don Orton said. “There was no quit in the guys today. They were battling through the opposition, battling through their own stuff and being thrown into positions they weren’t comfortable being in. They continued to fight all the way to the end.”
With players moving to different positions throughout the contest, it was tough for the Bearcats to gain consistency on both sides of the ball. However, there were spurts of brilliance to give them a bit of momentum and hope.
Down 6-0, cornerback Kareem Johnson stepped into the passing lane on a quick pass to the wing from Cowlitz quarterback Alex Walton for an interception. With no one in front of him, Johnson sprinted 35 yards for the touchdown as the Cobra commander stood and watched his pass go the other way.
Bryan Hooper converted the point-after kick with three Cowlitz defenders closing in on him for a 7-6 lead late in the first half. Grays Harbor got the ball back deep in Cowlitz territory and went for the score in the final seconds.
However, with the Cobras falling back to defend the end zone, Bearcats quarterback Tristan Robinette’s short throw was intercepted by Tylan Williams and returned 81 yards for a touchdown as time expired on the first half. Robinette, Grays Harbor’s backup quarterback, was pressed into service on Saturday due to injury to starter Eric Dayton.
“I told the guys at halftime that we could have taken a knee and kept the lead going in, but they would get the ball to start the second half and we took the chance,” Orton said. “Instead of a run, we went for it and the pass was short. And, they took it back for six. There’s nothing we could have done about that. Our guys kept fighting. Tristan got thrown to the wolves today, because we were short on guys, but he stepped up and played like a champion.”
Robinette found some success on Saturday, hitting Pedro Gonzalez for a 13-yard touchdown late in the contest, but also found some struggles. Against the Cobras defense, which pressured him throughout the contest, the Elma grad was picked off six times.
Cowlitz’s Michael Newton returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns, a 55-yard and a 71-yard return, in the second half. Newton had a third interception that could have been a ‘pick six,’ but he fumbled the ball at the 12-yard line. His teammate, Williams, picked up the ball and sprinted into the end zone for the score.
Robinette finished with 107 yards passing on 11-for-34 passing on the day. Justin Spencer caught six passes for 35 yards to lead the Bearcats. On the ground, Hoquiam grad Jordan Harrington’s work in the second half made up the bulk of his 60 yards on 15 carries.
Defensively, the Bearcats had two interceptions, the ‘pick six’ from Johnson and a sliding pick from corner Daniel Hargrove.
On Saturday, Grays Harbor (1-2) will hit the road to take on the Spokane Wolfpack in a WWFA non-divisional contest.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Grays Harbor Bearcats’ Chris Cook wraps up the Cowlitz Cobras running back on Saturday.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Kareem Johnson, left, and Deeshawn Benjamin celebrate after Johnson picked off a pass for a touchdown on Saturday.
(Brendan Carl | The Daily World) Grays Harbor Bearcats’ Jordan Harrington runs the ball against the Cowlitz Cobras on Saturday.
