As the prep football regular season on the Harbor moves into the final third of the schedule, multiple teams face off in critical league games this weekend with playoff implications at stake.
Aberdeen at WF West
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at WF West High School
Players to Watch: Aberdeen — Jeremy Sawyer RB/LB, Trey Anderson RB/LB, Kale Goings QB/DB, Jakob Bowers RB/DB. WF West — Gavin Fugate QB, Cameron Amoroso WR, Brock Guyette RB.
In what may prove to be a showdown for one of the two top spots in the 2A Evergreen Conference, Aberdeen will travel to Chehalis on Friday for a matchup against the WF West Bearcats.
With three weeks to go in the regular season, Aberdeen (4-1 overall, 3-1 2A Evergreen) sits tied atop the league standings with Tumwater and a one-half game ahead of WF West.
Tumwater defeated the Bearcats on Sept. 24 and Aberdeen’s game against the T-Birds was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, meaning there is a lot riding on Friday’s game for both teams.
Aberdeen is in the midst of one of its best seasons in recent memory. The Bobcats took care of business against winless Centralia last week and their only loss was by six points on the road against Foster on Sept. 24 in a game where 16 players and three coaches were unable to participate because of COVID contact tracing.
The Bobcats are back to full strength and have had no problem riding head coach Todd Bridge’s wing-T offense and a stout defense to victory.
With another 100-plus yard rushing game against Centralia, Bobcats junior running back Jeremy Sawyer now has 823 yards on the season to lead an Aberdeen offense that has rushed for over 1,500 this season.
Aberdeen’s defense enters the game allowing just 11.8 points per game this season and has forced 11 turnovers with 12 sacks in five games.
The formula for the Bobcats defense on Friday will be a simple one: Slow down Bearcats quarterback Gavin Fugate.
After a 34-0 loss to No. 1 Tumwater on Sept. 24, the Bearcats (4-2, 2-1) have rolled over Shelton 60-20 and Rochester 38-20 in the past two weeks.
Fugate passed for a career-best 387 yards and seven touchdowns, while running for 105 yards in the Shelton victory and threw for 171 yards in a much more balanced attack last week against Rochester.
WF West receiver Cameron Amoroso is another weapon the Bobcats will have to keep an eye on as he caught eight passes for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Shelton victory.
Montesano at Tenino
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Tenino High School
Players to Watch: Montesano — Jayden McElravy QB, Isaiah Pierce RB/LB, Caydon Lovell WR/DB. Tenino — Takari Hickle RB/DL, Kysen Knox QB, Dylan Spicer RB/LB.
Montesano is in unfamiliar territory as the inclusion of Eatonville and the emergence of Tenino (5-1, 1-1) as a top 10 state power has turned the 1A Evergreen League into arguably the toughest 1A league in the state this season.
In seasons past, one could reliably pencil-in the Bulldogs (3-2, 0-1) as the front-runners for the 1A Evergreen League title and No. 1 playoff seed, but not this season.
Led by three-star recruit and Oregon State commit in running back/defensive lineman Takari Hickle, Tenino picked up its first league win in eight years with a blowout win over Hoquiam last week and enters Friday’s game with its only loss coming in a 28-22 defeat to Eatonville two weeks ago.
According to several league coaches, Tenino’s offense is best described as “playing in a phone booth,” with Hickle and running back Dylan Spicer getting most of the carries.
Fans can bet the 10th-ranked Beavers are licking their chops for a shot at Montesano, which was ranked No. 10 before consecutive losses to 2B No. 2 Napavine and 1A No. 2 Eatonville dropped the Bulldogs from the state rankings.
But though they are a bit younger and a bit more banged up than in years past, Monte was competitive in both losses and the Bulldogs offense — led by junior quarterback Jayden McElravy and senior running back Isaiah Pierce — has averaged 39.8 points a game this season.
Elma at Eatonville
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Eatonville High School
Players to Watch: For Elma, Jarred Bailey RB/LB, Conan Baxter RB, René Duran WR/DB, Carter Studer QB. Eatonville — Kyle Cox OL/DL, Kevin Wulff QB, Jakob Lucht WR.
Elma is coming off one of its best offensive performances in school history, as the Eagles racked up 514 yards and 69 points in a victory over Seton Catholic last week.
In that game, Eagles running back Conan Baxter broke a 19-year old school record with 308 yards, making him the first Eagles player to rush for over 300 yards in a game.
The win moved Elma to 4-1 on the season and a one-half game behind Eatonville for the top spot in the 1A Evergreen League.
The Eagles will likely not be swayed by the Cruisers’ undefeated record and No. 2 state-ranking in the 1A class, as Eatonville (6-0, 2-0) will be the second top five team the Eagles have faced this season.
On Oct. 2, Elma hosted No. 5 Mount Baker and held a 7-0 lead at the end of the first half before the Mountaineers took control of the game with four touchdowns in the second half.
But Elma (3-1, 1-0) had taken its lumps and will be without starting tight end/defensive end Nathan Comer, who is likely out for the season with an injury, and may be without gritty tackle/defensive lineman Tucker Potts, who is questionable for Friday’s contest.
While not as big up front as Mount Baker, Eatonville runs a high-octane, fast-paced offense that often takes 10 seconds or less between plays, causing defenses to scramble just to get into position before a snap.
But as was shown against Montesano and Tenino, Eatonville’s defense will give up yardage and points, meaning if Elma can control the clock and get some stops, the Eagles will have a chance for the upset.
Centralia at Hoquiam
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Olympic Stadium
Players to Watch: Hoquiam — Nakota Brown RB/LB, Zander Jump QB/DB, Kohltan Philamalee RB/LB, Owen McNeill WR/LB. Centralia — Chase Sobolesky RB/FS, Landon Jenkins QB, Gabe Seymour RB.
While the vast majority of the schools in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties decided to play through positive COVID tests and contact tracing, school administrators for the Hoquiam School District decided to shut all school-related sports activities down for approximately one month in a decision that had many local football fans perplexed.
With one-third of its season gone due to the decision, the Grizzlies (0-3, 0-1) haven’t played a home game since they opened the season against Aberdeen in the Myrtle Street Rivalry back on Sept. 3.
With only six days to practice last week, Hoquiam was throttled by No. 10 Tenino 50-6 in the Grizzlies’ return to the gridiron after the long layoff.
On Friday, Hoquiam hosts winless Centralia (0-6, 0-4) in hopes of picking up its first win of the season.
The Tigers haven’t scored more than 14 points in a game and the closest they’ve been to an opponent was last week in a 28-12 loss to Aberdeen.
Considering Hoquiam closes out the season at Montesano, and then at home against Eatonville, Friday might be the Grizzlies’ best chance to avoid a winless season.
Other games
(7 p.m. Friday unless noted)
2B Pacific League
North Beach (0-3, 0-2) at Ilwaco (1-3, 0-3) (5 p.m. Friday)
Rainier (0-3, 0-2) at Pe Ell-Willapa Valley (3-3, 3-3)
No. 2 Napavine (6-0, 4-0) at Raymond-South Bend (1-5, 1-3)
1B 8-man football
Wishkah Valley at WA School for Deaf (3 p.m. Thursday)
Ocosta at Naselle (8 p.m. Friday)
Mossyrock at Taholah (1 p.m. Saturday)
Clallam Bay at Lake Quinault (1 p.m. Saturday)
