By Ryan Sparks and Hasani Grayson

Grays Harbor News Group

Montesano at Hoquiam

After suffering its first loss of the season to a solid Woodland team on Friday, Montesano sets its sights on the Hoquiam Grizzlies in a league-defining matchup at 7 p.m. Friday at Olympic Stadium.

The Grizzlies (6-0, 2-0 Evergreen 1A) defeated Elma in nail-biting fashion on Friday, capped by Rayyon Dayton’s block of a potential game-winning field goal with 10 seconds left in the game.

Hoquiam’s offense revolves around senior quarterback Payton Quintanilla, whose ability to throw the ball downfield and use his feet to extend plays has the Grizzlies scoring at a 28-points-per-game clip this season.

Not to be outdone, the Hoquiam defense has also been stout this season, allowing a mere 12 points per game. The Grizzlies’ defense, as well as a wet field, held a high-scoring Elma offense to a season low in points (13).

Monte faced a quarterback much like Quintanilla in Friday’s 47-13 loss to the impressive Woodland Beavers.

Beavers quarterback Isaiah Flanagan accounted for more than 500 yards of offense and five rushing touchdowns in that game.

Of its league foes, Monte has had the most trouble with the Grizzlies in recent years, relatively speaking. Aside from Monte’s 35-14 win last season, the two teams have played it close over the past few seasons. Hoquiam’s last win over the Bulldogs was a 10-6 win in 2015 and from 2014-16 just 11 points separated the league-rivals.

It may come down to how well Monte’s defense is able to stop Quintanilla. If Monte is to hand the Grizzlies their first loss of the season and seize control of the 1A Evergreen league, they’ll have to do a better job of stopping the quarterback than they did last Friday.

Hoquiam defensive back Rayyon Dayton forced a fumble at the goal line and then blocked the potential game-winning field goal with 10 seconds left to secure a 14-13 win over Elma on Friday. In doing so, he was selected as The Daily World’s ‘Game Ball’ for defense honoree this week. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)

Elma at Tenino

The Eagles will have to wash the bad taste of last week’s gut-wrenching 14-13 loss to Hoquiam out of their mouths as they travel to Tenino to take on the Beavers at 7 p.m. Friday.

Fortunately for Elma, it will be facing the right team to get back into the win column. Tenino is winless on the season and was on the wrong end of a 55-14 throttling at the hands of Forks on Friday. The Beavers haven’t scored more than 14 points in a game since a 53-20 week-one loss to Rochester and are allowing 44.7 points per game.

Tenino (0-6, 0-2) has scored 70 points in six games, an 11.7 points-per-game average.

Eagles running back Taitum Brumfield has clearly been the offensive MVP for Elma this season. The senior ran for more than 100 yards again on Friday, the fifth time in six games he has done so this season. The workhorse tailback carried the ball 27 times for 151 yards and a touchdown, bringing his season totals to 887 yards and 13 rushing TDs.

If what’s on paper holds true, the Eagles should have little trouble in picking up a win on Friday, which would set them up nicely in the race for a playoff spot.

Black Hills at Aberdeen

Black Hills will bring its high-powered running game into the Harbor when the Wolves and Bobcats square off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Stewart Field.

The Wolves racked up 405 yards in last week’s win against Centralia, 350 of which came on the ground.

Tatem Sutherland was tough to handle on both sides of the ball against the Tigers, breaking off a 56-yard touchdown run and tackling a running back in the end zone for a safety.

Zach Loveless led the team in rushing with 149 yards on 11 carries. Taylor Simmons ended up having a solid day on the ground with 74 rushing yards and added one catch for 28 yards.

Aberdeen’s schedule has the Bobcats facing two of the tougher teams in the 2A Evergreen after a rough 61-3 loss to Tumwater last week. The Bobcats found themselves down 41-3 by halftime with the only points coming off of a 30-yard field goal by Giovani Pisani.

Offense has been hard to come by this season as the Bobcats have not scored more than 14 points in their six games this season.

Aberdeen’s lone win against Centralia was a defensive struggle where the Bobcats recovered two fumbles and came away with an interception.

Ocosta at Raymond

With only three games left on the schedule, this week’s matchup could have some big postseason implications.

Raymond (4-2, 3-1) is up one game in the conference loss column on Ocosta (3-2, 2-1) and are currently locked in a battle for third place.

Ocosta will be looking to bounce back from its first 2B coastal loss of the season when they fell 20-7 to Ilwaco last Friday.

Ocosta was down by a touchdown going into halftime against the Fishermen and Ilwaco recovered a fumble and an onside kick to help widen the margin late in the game.

Though the result did not go their way, the Wildcats coaching staff were pleased with the way the team performed. Kobe Beck carried the ball 14 times for 61 yards and caught five passes for 85 yards in defeat.

Raymond is coming off a more satisfying result with a 38-0 blowout of North Beach. Raymond’s running game looked to be in top form with McCartney Maden and Patrick Edwards both rushing for over 100 yards.

The Seagulls racked up 250 yards on the ground and blanked the Hyaks to come away with the decisive victory.

The battle for sole possession of third place kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday in Westport.

Chief Leschi South Bend

The Warriors and Indians will both be looking for their first league wins of the season on Friday.

Chief Leschi has had trouble keeping enough players on the field at points this season and was forced to forfeit a game to Pe Ell/Willapa Valley on Sept. 28.

They also had a rough go of it when they suited up against Charles Wright Academy last week where they lost 41-20.

The Terriers built up a 20-0 lead by halftime and added two touchdowns in the third quarter to cement the victory.

South Bend will be licking its wounds from a shutout loss. South Bend was on the wrong end of a 42-0 blowout to Pe Ell/Willapa Valley last week.

Quarterback Drew Rose couldn’t brings his team back with his passing, going 6-for-16 for 60 yards with an interception. South Bend’s ground game didn’t generate much as the Indians rushed for 39 yards on 29 carries.

South bend was also snake bitten by turnovers and lost two fumbles.

The two teams will try to bounce back from lopsided losses when the Warriors come into South Bend on Friday at 7 p.m.

North Beach at Pe Ell-Willapa Valley

By rushing for 168 yards and three touchdowns last week, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley running back Max Smith was honored with The Daily World’s ‘Game Ball’ for offense this week. (Photo by Larry Bale)

Two teams at opposite ends of the standings will share the field when the Titans play host to the Hyaks.

North Beach (0-5, -0-3) is still looking for a rhythm on offense and has been shut out twice this season while never scoring more than two touchdowns in a game.

The Hyaks 38-0 loss to Raymond last week was their most lopsided defeat of the season and came in a game where they allowed two rushers to run for over 100 yards.

PWV (4-2, 3-0) is coming off one of its most dominant wins of the season after defeating South Bend, 42-0, and it used a running game to do it.

Titans running back Max Smith was a force to be reckoned with as he rushed for 168 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns.

North Beach will have to make stopping the run a priority against a team that hasn’t had to thrown the ball much this season. PWV quarterback Logan Walker has attempted 55 passes this season and has been efficient when asked to throw. He has completed 26 passes this season including eight touchdowns.

The Hyaks will face the Titans in Menlo at 7 p.m. this Friday.

Other games

Mary M. Knight at Oakville, 7 p.m., Friday

Taholah at Wishkah Valley, 1 p.m., Saturday