UPDATE: Added information for Toutle Lake-Hoquiam football game.
Two very different halves led to an Aberdeen loss as we review Week 5 games of the Twin Harbors prep football season.
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PREP FOOTBALL
W.F. West 56, Aberdeen 21
A woeful second half spoiled Aberdeen’s upset bid in a 56-21 loss to W.F. West on Friday in Chehalis.
The Bobcats (3-2 overall, 0-1 2A Evergreen) faced an uphill climb before kickoff as leading rusher and star running back Micah Schroeder was unable to play due to a hip injury.
Aberdeen’s fortunes worsened on the opening kickoff as deep-play threat Adonis Hammonds got up from a tackle with an injured shoulder. The senior speedster would make a brief return in the second quarter but did not play a snap on the offensive side of the football.
Without two of its featured weapons, Aberdeen fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter after a breakdown in coverage led to a 46-yard touchdown pass from Bearcats quarterback Wyatt Hoffman to Jalen Amoroso.
But the Bobcats responded in the second frame, driving downfield thanks to junior quarterback Mason Hill darting passes to receivers Waylon Palmer and Gabe Matthews.
Aberdeen tied the game when hill connected with Matthews for a 31-yard score with just under 10 minutes to play in the second quarter.
After the Bobcats defense forced a punt by the Bearcats (4-1, 1-0), running back Riley Wixson broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run the very next play. Matthews’ extra point put Aberdeen up 14-7.
W.F. West quickly drove down the field and scored on a 2-yard plunge from Hoffman, but a blocked extra-point kick kept Aberdeen in the lead at 14-13.
With time winding down in the first half, Aberdeen’s two-minute drill drove down the field – highlighted by a 26-yard screen pass to Wixson, who bowled over Bearcats defenders – and scored its third touchdown of the period when Palmer hauled in a 20-yard pass from Hill in the corner of the end zone for a 21-13 lead with 1:00 to play in the first half.
But the Bobcats defense faltered late in the second quarter as a 30-yard pass play had W.F. West inside the Aberdeen 20. The Bearcats then dug into their bag of tricks, scoring on a flea-flicker pass play from Hoffman to Holden Kunz to score with just two seconds left on the clock. A two-point conversion pass play was good to tie the game at 21-all at halftime.
“That was a big-time play in a big-time moment,” Aberdeen head coach Todd Bridge said. “There’s a rarely-discussed aspect of this game I’ve called the four-minute ‘hole’, which is the last two minutes of the first half and the first two minutes of the second half. We struggle to win ‘the hole’ and I’ve got to figure out why, so that’s on me. We talk about it a lot, but talking is not getting the job done.”
Aberdeen senior linebacker Sam Schreiber, himself playing with a hip-flexor issue, recovered a fumble on the Bearcats’ first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, but the ensuing Bobcats drive stalled out at midfield.
That was the beginning of the end for Aberdeen as W.F. West would score five unanswered touchdowns – four in the third quarter alone – to blowout the Bobcats over the final 24 minutes of game time.
Aberdeen defensive back Brody Sherman (13) defends against W.F. West’s Connor Coleman during the Bobcats’ 56-21 loss on Friday at W.F. West High School.
“I don’t think it was anything we did, the play calling or the execution of our players, I think (Bearcats head coach) Dan Hill’s team just metaphorically put their foot down and said, ‘That’s enough,’” Bridge said. “I wouldn’t say they wore us down, but rather pounced. They smelled blood in our young and battered secondary and took full advantage. On the other side of the ball, we didn’t have those special weapons our offense is built around, in reference to our deep-ball threat and lightning speed. This resulted in the Bearcats packing the box daring us to throw.”
Wixson ended the game with 114 yards on 12 carries while Hill went 17 for 30 for 217 yards and two touchdowns and one interception, a desperation fourth-down heave on his last pass of the game. It was Hill’s first interception this season.
Aberdeen outgained W.F. West 278-262 in the first half, but that stat was flipped in the second half, with the Cats outgained 262-61.
The Bobcats totalled 339 yards with the Bearcats totalling 524 yards.
“If we played mistake free, which is not impossible, we believe we could have had 35 points on the board at halftime. But we didn’t play mistake free and we didn’t have 35 points on the board. Instead it was tied and (W.F. West) felt very fortunate at that,” Bridge said. “We kept making little mistakes to let them back in the game. In a title bout like this, the team that makes the fewest mistakes shall win, and that wasn’t us. We will lick our wounds, get healthier and return to our sacred grounds as three of our last four games of the regular season are at home.”
The Bobcats host Centralia at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Aberdeen 0 21 0 0 — 0
W.F. West 7 14 28 7 — 56
Scoring
First quarter
W.F. West – Amoroso 46-yard pass from Hoffman (kick good), 0:21
Second quarter
Aberdeen – Matthews 36 pass from Hill (Matthews kick), 9:57
A – Wixson 80 run (Matthews kick), 4:58
WFW – Martin 2 run (PAT failed), 2:38
A – Palmer 20 pass from Hill (Matthews kick), 1:00
WFW – Kunz 19 pass from Hoffman (Smaciarz pass from Hoffman), 0:00
Third quarter
WFW – Martin 1 run (kick good), 6:30
WFW – Martin 35 run (kick good), 4:36
WFW – Coleman 41 pass from Hoffman (kick good), 3:03
WFW – Martin 5 run (kick good), 0:09
Fourth quarter
WFW – Mohoric 47 run (kick good), 2:36.
Passing: Aberdeen – Hill 17-30-1-217. W.F. West – Hoffman 18-27-0-293.
Rushing: A – Wixson 12-114, Crawford 4-13, Schreiber 8-(-5), Hill 6-(-12). WFW – Miles 13-121, Hoffman 4-18, Kunz 1-9, 25 3-60, 3 1-6.
Receiving: A – Matthews 9-98, Schreiber 2-29, Palmer 4-55, Wixson 1-27, Hiett 1-15. WFW – Coleman 2-75, Martin 6-66, Amoroso 2-61, Kunz 3-40.
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Rochester 62, Elma 8
Elma’s defense couldn’t stop Rochester’s running attack in a 62-8 loss on Friday at Rochester High School.
The Eagles (1-4, 0-1) allowed 24 points in each of the first two quarters and gave up 459 total rushing yards to suffer their fourth-straight loss.
Elma’s lone touchdown came when receiver Jovani Amaya scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Isaac McGaffey to make it a 32-8 ballgame with just over a minute to play in the second quarter.
McGaffey completed 18-of-34 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown.
McGaffey’s favorite target was sophomore running back Colt Landstrom, who caught nine passes for 102 yards.
Elma had 223 total yards of offense, but went a combined 6-for-23 (26%) on third and fourth down.
Rochester (4-1, 1-0) had three players rush for over 100 yards – none with more than eight carries in the game – led by Maddox Rodgers with 155 yards on six carries and three touchdowns.
The Eagles face Tenino at 7 p.m. on Friday at Beavers Stadium in Tenino.
Elma 0 8 0 0 – 8
Rochester 24 24 6 8 – 62
Scoring
First quarter
Rochester – Peterman 17 run (Rodgers pass from Singleton), 7:26
R – Rodriguez 14 run (Rodriguez run), 3:25
R – Peterman 55 run (Rodgers run), 0:57
Second quarter
R – Rodgers 4 run (Rodriguez pass from Singleton), 8:13
R – Rodgers 30 run (Peterman run), 5:06
Elma – Amaya 13 pass from McGaffey (Amaya pass from McGaffey), 1:11
R – Rodgers 70 run (Rodriguez run), 0:56
Third quarter
R – Rodriguez 49 run (run failed), 3:27
Fourth quarter
R – Easley 1 run (run good), 2:45
Passing: Elma – McGaffey 18-34-0-173. Rochester – Singleton 1-1-0-36.
Rushing: E – K. Rademacher 7-30, McGaffey 8-15, C. Rademacher 7-4, Landstrom 1-1. R – Rodgers 6-155, Peterman 5-128, Rodriguez 8-123, No. 24 3-28, Johnson 4-15, Simpkins 1-8, Easley 2-3.
Receiving: E – Landstrom 9-102, J. Brookins 2-23, Sample 1-16, Amaya 1-13, Rupe 1-13, K. Rademacher 1-4, C. Rademacher 2-2. R – Rodriguez 1-9.
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Hoquiam 44, Toutle Lake 40
Hoquiam made the clutch plays down the stretch to defeat Toutle Lake 44-40 in a barnburner on Friday at Olympic Stadium in Hoquiam.
The Grizzlies (2-3) traded touchdowns with the Fighting Ducks (3-2) throughout the game.
The two teams were tied at 14-all after one quarter of play, which Hoquiam freshman quarterback K.J. McCoy completing touchdown passes to both Moses DeShazer (5 yards) and Kingston Case (63 yards) in the frame.
Hoquiam’s Nite Turpin intercepted a pass from Toutle Lake quarterback Jameson Schelb and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown to give the Grizzlies a 20-14 lead early in the second quarter.
After two Toutle Lake touchdowns put Hoquiam in a 28-20 hole, Turpin struck again, returning an onside kick 50 yards for his second touchdown of the game. A missed two-point conversion had Hoquiam entering halftime down 28-26.
McCoy would hook up with junior tight end Lincoln Niemi for a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, the latter a 16-yarder that staked the Grizzlies to a 38-34 lead entering the final period of play.
DeShazer broke loose for a 35-yard touchdown run to put Hoquiam up 44-34 in the fourth quarter.
Toutle Lake followed with a Schelb 1-yard touchdown plunge later in the period to trim the Hoquiam lead to 44-40.
With the Ducks holding possession and less than two minutes left to play, Hoquiam senior defender Ethan Byron intercepted a Schelb pass to end the threat.
Needing one first down to run out the clock, a Hoquiam fumble was recovered by the Ducks deep in Grizzlies territory with 50 seconds on the clock.
But the Hoquiam defense stiffened when defensive linemen Jerry Jeremiah stripped the ball loose and Braeden Gonzalez recovered the fumble to secure the victory.
McCoy went 11 for 14 for 171 yards and four touchdown passes to lead the Grizzlies.
Case rushed for 86 yards on nine carries and caught two passes for 72 yards to lead a Hoquiam receiving group that had five different players catch at least two passes in the game.
DeShazer added 62 rushing yards on 11 carries while receiver Javonni Koth made two key third-down receptions for the Grizzlies.
Hoquiam’s offense totalled 323 total yards of offense, 152 of those on the ground.
Defensively, the Grizzlies were led by Turpin, who had a monster game with 28 tackles to go along with a pick-6 interception return and onside-kick recovery for a touchdown.
“It seemed like we were on defense the entire first half,” said Hoquiam head coach Jeremy McMillan, noting the Ducks ran 49 offensive plays in the first half. “I really liked the situations that we were put in on Friday. Toutle Lake was a great non-league match up for us as we head into league play this week.”
McMillan added his team still has much to learn, but he was pleased with how many of his players performances on Friday.
“Our youth and lack of experience in some keys moments showed up. I need to clean up our penalties in the red zone on both sides of the ball. We need to execute our concepts better this week,” he said. “I’m pleased with how our seniors Memphis Orama, Jerry Jeremiah, Joe Bozich, Ryan Pullar, Javonni Koth, Chris Curley and Andrew Le have stepped up. And I’m excited about our younger guys in key positions. Zeke Hansen, KJ McCoy, Moses DeShazer, Cody Sauer and Nite Turpin have been working hard to get on the field and show their skills.”
Hoquiam opens its 1A Evergreen League portion of the schedule when it hosts Montesano at 7 p.m. Friday at Olympic Stadium.
Toutle Lake 14 14 6 6 – 40
Hoquiam 14 12 12 6 – 44
Scoring
First quarter
Hoquiam – DeShazer 5 pass from McCoy (Byron kick)
Toutle Lake – Webber 2 run (PAT failed)
H – Case 63 pass from McCoy (Byron kick)
TL – Rivera 3 run (pass good)
Second quarter
H – Turpin 24 interception return (kick failed)
TL – Webber 25 pass from Schelb (Rivera run)
TL – Schelb 8 run (PAT failed)
H – Turpin 50 kick return (PAT failed)
Third quarter
H – Niemi 15 pass from McCoy (PAT failed)
TL – Westervelt 18 pass from Schelb (PAT failed)
H – Niemi 16 pass from McCoy (PAT failed)
Fourth quarter
H – DeShazer 35 run (PAT failed)
TL – Schelb 1 run (PAT failed)
Passing: TL – Schelb 7-14-2-230. H – McCoy 11-14-0-171.
Rushing: TL – Schelb 8-50, Rivera 6-19. H – Case 9-86, DeShazer 11-62, McCoy 1-4.
Receiving: TL – Webber 3-105, Rivera 1-18. H – Case 2-72, Niemi 2-31, Byron 3-29, Koth 2-29, Bozich 2-10.
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Other games
Hoquiam 44, Toutle Lake 40
Wahkiakum 74, Ocosta 14
Naselle 70, North Beach 20
Oakville 50, Taholah 8
Wishkah Valley 54, Mary M. Knight 12
