Entering its 112th renewal, the Aberdeen-Hoquiam football series remains one of the state’s longest and most enduring rivalries.
What the series has lacked in recent years, however, is last-minute excitement. That could change when the Bobcats (0-1) and Grizzlies (0-1) square off in what figures to be a tight contest Friday night at Olympic Stadium.
Also on Friday, Montesano (1-0) hosts Sequim (1-0), Elma (0-1) is home to White Salmon (1-0), Ocosta (1-0) travels to Wahkiakum (1-0), Raymond (0-1) visits Rainier (1-0), South Bend (1-0) is scheduled to entertain Chief Leschi (0-1) and Pe Ell-Willapa Valley (0-1) journeys to Randle to face Morton-White Pass (1-0). All kickoffs are slated for 7 p.m.
Wishkah (0-0) is scheduled to host Tacoma Baptist (1-0) on Saturday afternoon, while North Beach (0-1) takes on Life Christian Academy (0-1) Saturday night at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
Taholah has cancelled its scheduled Saturday game at Yakama Tribal. The Chitwhins, according to athletic director Karl Braden, has also forfeited a pair of league games due to a lack of eligible players, but is still on track to open its season against Naselle on the last weekend of September.
Aberdeen-Hoquiam
Although Aberdeen leads the series 68-38-5, Hoquiam has won the last three meetings.
The Grizzlies have outscored the Bobcats by a combined 104-7 in those three contests. Aberdeen’s last victory, a 36-2 conquest in 2013, was far from a thriller, either.
The last Aberdeen-Hoquiam game to go down to the wire was in 2009, when Hoquiam’s Jered Ronquillo made several acrobatic catches of Max Dickinson passes to lead the Grizzlies to a 27-21 win in a Saturday afternoon game at Olympic Stadium. Aberdeen’s 2010 upset victory, 20-0 on a day when Stewart Field’s turf field was dedicated, contained its share of drama as well.
With the Bobcats fielding a far more experienced team, it’s difficult to pinpoint a favorite this time around. The Harbor rivals, in fact, played to a 7-7 tie in the Grays Harbor Jamboree — in a forum that is admittedly unreliable.
Both teams are coming off decisive season-opening losses that were more competitive than the scores indicated.
The Bobcats hung tough with favored Montesano for the better part of three quarters. Trailing by only a touchdown late in the third period, they eventually fell, 41-20.
While Hoquiam dropped a 39-6 decision to traditional Class 2A power Chehalis, HHS coach Jeremy McMillan said his team performed decently.
“They were a little overwhelmed at the beginning,” McMillan said of his young team. “About halfway through the first quarter, we got more dialed in. I thought it was a closer game than the scoreboard indicated. Our offense gave up nine points to them — a safety and a pick six.”
As McMillan acknowledged, Hoquiam’s primary challenge Friday will be to contain Aberdeen running back Kylan Touch. The AHS senior accounted for nearly 300 all-purpose yards against Montesano.
“We’ve got to win the special teams games and our offense has to execute better than we did Friday night,” McMillan said. “Our guys are learning on the fly. We don’t have a lot of returning starters. Each game is a learning experience for them.”
“They’re big up front and strong,” Bobcat coach Kevin Ridout said of the Grizzlies. “They have very good athletes in the skill positions. It’s kind of hard to go off the Chehalis film because Chehalis is going to compete for a league (2A) title.”
McMillan commended the play of offensive lineman Garrett Bradley, tailback Asai Villarreal and defensive back Jonah Doll against Chehalis.
The Grizzlies came out of the Chehalis game largely injury-free. Not so the Bobcats, as starting center Alex Reyes will be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a broken finger on his left (or snapping) hand.
In addition to Touch, the Bobcats received good production against Montesano from quarterback Ben Dublanko, who passed for 130 yards. Ridout also liked the play of lineman Skyler Murray and wingback-linebacker Zeiah Embry.
“We played better than we have played (against Montesano), but I think we can play better,” Ridout concluded.
The Harbor rivals will again be competing for the Myrtle Street Trophy presented by entrepreneur John Yonich.
Advance tickets for the game may be purchased at both high schools or Harbor Drug in Hoquiam.
Other games
Montesano was unable to obtain an instantaneous scouting report on Sequim, as the Wolves from Clallam County received a forfeit from Port Townsend in last week’s scheduled season opener.
The Bulldogs, however, do have something of a history with the Wolves, a 7-3 team in the 2A ranks last season. Monte won at Sequim last year, 66-33.
Operating from a spread, Sequim features junior quarter Riley Cowan, a three-year starter and last year’s Olympic League Offensive MVP.
“He will be as good as any quarterback we’ll see this year,” Montesano coach Terry Jensen said. “He can make all the throws.”
Jensen called the Aberdeen game a mixture of good and bad from his standpoint, “a typical first game.”
Somewhat surprisingly, in view of the score, Jensen was most disappointed with his team’s offense, particularly blocking.
The Elma-White Salmon contest will be a rematch of one of last year’s wilder games. White Salmon used a last-minute kickoff return for a 54-49 triumph.
The Bruins evidently still pack an offensive punch, having routed Goldendale 53-0 last week.
