For the first time this season, we will have a full slate of football games on the Twin Harbors this weekend.
And it only took six weeks into the season.
Sarcasm aside, a temporary sigh of relief was felt for fans of local high school football as no Twin Harbors area teams reported game cancellations earlier this week, meaning that at the time of this writing Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Montesano, Elma and the remaining schools in the area will have normally scheduled games for Week 6 of the prep football season.
Aberdeen at Centralia
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Centralia Tigers Stadium
Players to Watch: Aberdeen — Jeremy Sawyer RB/LB, Trey Anderson RB/LB, Kale Goings QB/DB, Jakob Bowers RB/DB. Centralia — Chase Sobolesky RB/FS, Landon Jenkins QB, Gabe Seymour RB.
Aberdeen took care of business in picking up its first league victory of the season with a 20-7 win over an improved Black Hills team on Friday, Oct. 1, at Stewart Field.
The Bobcats defense held the Wolves’ offense scoreless and forced four turnovers, while holding a Black Hills offense that scored 51 points a week earlier to 215 yards.
Jeremy Sawyer had another 100-plus yard rushing day for the Bobcats (3-1 overall), his fourth time piercing the century mark this season. The junior running back had 28 carries for 151 yards in the Oct. 1 victory, and now has 669 yards and six touchdowns on the season.
Aberdeen’s opponent on Friday is that team Black Hills scored 51 points on two weeks ago — the Centralia Tigers.
The Tigers have failed to score in double digits in four of its five losses this season, including last week’s 28-0 loss to Rochester.
Centralia (0-5, 0-3) benefited from the return of 2A Evergreen All-Conference running back/defensive back Chase Sobolesky, who was out the previous four games. But it did little to help a Tigers offense that has scored a total of 34 points through the first five weeks of the season.
Eatonville at Montesano
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Jack Rottle Field, Montesano
Players to Watch: Montesano — Jayden McElravy QB, Isaiah Pierce RB/LB, Caydan Lovell WR/DB, Kenny Koonrad OL/DL. Eatonville — Kyle Cox OL/DL, Kevin Wulff QB, Jakob Lucht WR.
Montesano won’t get a break after last week’s gut-wrenching loss to Napavine as they face the state’s second-ranked team in the Eatonville Cruisers.
Montesano (3-1 overall) is in the midst of a stretch of three games that is normally only found deep into a state-playoff run.
After falling last week to the state’s No. 2 ranked team in the 2B class (according to sblive.com), the Bulldogs face the 1A class’ second-ranked team in Eatonville for the first time as an 1A Evergreen League opponent.
Eatonville joined the 1A Evergreen League last season, but didn’t face any Grays Harbor County opponents due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Cruisers beats No. 8 La Center two weeks ago and league foe Tenino — which replaced Montesano at No. 10 in this week’s rankings — 24-22 last Friday.
Eatonville (5-0, 1-0) is led by senior quarterback Kevin Wulff and highly-recruited lineman Kyle Cox. The Cruisers are balanced and utilize weapons all over the field. Wulff has passed for 924 yards and 11 touchdowns and has three receivers with at least 10 catches on the season.
Through the first five games, not one Eatonville running back has rushed for more than 200 yards, but that can be deceiving as five different rushers have carried the ball for at least 120 yards for a Cruisers team that has 1,000 yards on 120 carries and 17 touchdowns this season.
Before Friday’s close call against Tenino, Eatonville outscored its opponents by an average of 44-6.5.
Hoquiam at Tenino
When and Where: 7 p.m. at Tenino High School
Players to Watch: Hoquiam Nakota Brown RB/LB, Zander Jump QB/DB, Kohltan Philamalee RB/LB, Owen McNeill WR/LB. Tenino — Takari Hickle RB/DL, Kysen Knox QB, Dylan Spicer RB/LB.
After a long hiatus, the Hoquiam Grizzlies return to the football field on Friday evening.
Their reward, a showdown with the state’s No. 10 team in the Tenino Beavers.
The Grizzlies (0-2 overall) haven’t played since a 49-14 loss to Nooksack Valley on Sept. 10. Following that loss, Hoquiam school officials shut down any further school sports and moved to online learning, suspending the Grizzlies from taking the field for nearly a month.
After losing a third of their scheduled season, Hoquiam will face Tenino and its three-star recruit in senior Takari Hickle, who has committed to play at Oregon State next fall.
Tenino (4-1, 0-1) gave No. 2 Eatonville all it could handle in a 24-22 loss last week and has been led by Hickle and running back Dylan Spicer on offense.
Hoquiam was cleared to resume practice on Saturday after being sidelined on Sept. 15. The Grizzlies should have a healthy, albeit rusty roster when the two teams face off on Friday in Tenino.
Elma at Seton Catholic
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Seton Catholic High School
Players to Watch: Elma — Jarred Bailey RB/LB, Conan Baxter RB, René Duran WR/DB, Carter Studer QB. Seton Catholic — Joe Callerame QB/LB, Jack Callerame RB/MLB, Sean Emberlin WR/CB.
The Elma Eagles will look to take out any frustrations over last week’s failed upset bid on this week’s opponent — the Seton Catholic Cougars.
Elma looked like world-beaters in the first half last week, holding a 7-0 lead at the half before the Mountaineers scored 28 points after the break to pick up the victory in what was a tough, physical football game.
Now a team that has been battle-tested against one of the state’s best, the Eagles will look to get its rushing game back on track after being held to an abnormally low 98 yards.
Seton Catholic had had two convincing wins over lesser-tier opponents in Charles Wright Academy and Columbia-White Salmon and three losses against stiffer competition in Rochester, Tenino and Friday Harbor.
The Cougars are led by brother Joe and Jack Callerame, with quarterback Joe passing for 266 yards on 17-of-21 attempts and rushing for 148 yards, while running back Jack ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns in a 60-30 win over CWS last week.
Other games
(7 p.m. Friday unless noted)
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley at Napavine — The Titans (3-2) face the No. 2 Napavine (5-0) in a tough road matchup at Napavine High School.
Raymond-South Bend at Morton-White Pass — The Ravens (1-4) is set to face Morton-White Pass (3-2), which lost 28-6 to PWV last week.
Taholah at Naselle — The Chitwhins lost big to Oakville last week and look to pick up a win against Naselle (3-1).
Charles Wright Academy at Ocosta — The Wildcats host Tarriers at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Westport.
Wishkah Valley at Lake Quinault — Wishkah (0-4) takes on Lake Quinault (0-2) in a 1B Coastal (8-man) matchup at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
