What Week Six of the Twin Harbors prep football season lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality.
Two attractive Homecoming games, Aberdeen’s latest challenge to one of the Evergreen 2A Conference’s elite and a Willapa Harbor showdown headline this weekend’s prep slate.
Only six games involving area teams are scheduled for Friday night.
Aberdeen (0-1, 2-3) hosts Black Hills (1-0, 3-2) in an Evergreen 2A Conference game. Hoquiam and Montesano will both celebrate their respective Homecomings, as the Grizzlies (1-0, 3-2) host Evergreen 1A League rival Elma (0-0, 2-3) and Monte (5-0) entertains Class 2A R.A. Long (2-3) in a non-leaguer.
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley (1-0, 3-2) visits South Bend (1-0, 5-0) in a Friday game replete with SWW 2B Coastal Division title implications. Raymond (1-0, 2-3) is home against Ilwaco (0-1, 2-3) and Taholah (0-3) visits Oakville (1-1, 1-3) in other Friday games. All kickoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m.
North Beach (0-1, 2-3) is at Ocosta (0-1, 2-3) in another SWW 2B Coastal game. Originally scheduled for Friday night, it has been shifted to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Elma-Hoquiam
While the Grizzlies remain favored in their Homecoming contest, Elma has progressed greatly since a season-opening drubbing at the hands of Class 2A Eatonville.
An even younger team than Hoquiam, the Eagles are coming off a 29-12 win at Rochester in which Tatium Brumfield rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns.
“They’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the season,” Hoquiam coach Jeremy McMillan said of Elma. “Offensively, they’re able to move the ball with the running game, then hit (people) with the pass. If the quarterback (Cody Vollan) breaks the pocket, he can do big things.”
Elma coach Ron Clark is most concerned about the battle in the trenches.
“I think they’re tough up front,” Clark said of the Grizzlies. “We have to match up with them up front. We’ve got to play even with their line.”
Hoquiam quarterback Payton Quintanilla passed for 324 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 35-0 rout of Tenino.
Despite those offensive numbers, McMillan said the Grizzlies played better on the defensive end last week.
“We made a lot of mistakes last week,” the first-year HHS head coach said. “We had too many penalties and (other) mistakes.”
Aberdeen-Black Hills
This will be the second of three consecutive games Aberdeen will play against the Evergreen 2A Conference’s so-called Big Three. The Bobcats lost to Chehalis, 38-7, last week and will host traditional power Tumwater next week.
Black Hills hasn’t been quite as formidable as the two state-ranked teams this season, with losses to Timberline (35-7) and Evergreen of Vancouver (9-6). The Wolves, however, may have gotten a boost with the return of ace running back Jaden Toussaint.
A junior who has drawn comparisons to Aberdeen standout Kylan Touch, Toussaint made his season debut last week against Centralia and helped lift the Wolves to a 26-20 overtime victory.
“He adds a Touch-like dimension to a team,” Bobcat coach Kevin Ridout said.
Black Hills also features a gambling defense.
“They blitz about 85 percent of the time,” Ridout noted. “We’ve got to have our eyes up and not be overwhelmed by their blitz.”
Aberdeen senior Bailey Delahanty, who has playing in the secondary with a cast on his left hand, drew praise from Ridout for his performance against Chehalis.
Montesano-R.A. Long
Ranked third in one state 1A poll and fourth in another, Montesano will undergo its final non-league test against Class 2A R.A. Long.
The Bulldogs won last year’s meeting, 36-12.
The Lumberjacks from Longview own decisive victories over Centralia (54-21) and crosstown rival Mark Morris (35-8), but have lost to Kelso (48-21), Columbia River (35-13) and Woodland (27-20)
PWV-South Bend
Seeking its third consecutive league title (the first coming in the Central League), Pe Ell-Willapa Valley faces the challenge of a South Bend club that has already exceeded virtually all preseason expectations.
Supplementing the running of Ben Byington with the passing of Drew Rose and a greatly improved line, South Bend has already cracked the Tacoma News-Tribune’s state 2B rankings.
The Indians have never beaten the PWV combine and are bidding for their first win over Willapa Valley since their 2010 state championship season. Oddly, Valley won the league meeting (and the league title) that year, but the Tribe took the non-league half of a home-and-home series.
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley boasts a diversified attack, with Peter Hamilton, Max Smith and Tyson Nissell all getting into the ball-carrying act. Although not generally known as a passing threat, quarterback Matt Pearson completed 7-of-8 through the air and threw for two touchdowns in last week’s 47-7 rout of Ocosta.
