Game of the Week
Ilwaco @ South Bend, 7 pm, Friday Sept. 12
After an "almost" last week, the Fishermen (0-1) have to be feeling like they played well enough to win, but let one slip away in the final minutes against the Winlock Cardinals (1-0), 28-27.
The defense had no answer for the running attack of the Cards Mike Ayon, who racked up 201 rushing yards — accounting for 2/3's of the Cardinals total yards for the game.
The Fishermen had their own horse, Trevor Couch, who ran for 136 yards and a touchdown. He was part of a balanced offensive attack for the Fishermen who also had 113 yards through the air off the arm of Rey Sanchez, who also threw a TD pass, and two other rushing TDs by Zach DeSimone and Stephen Hilton.
This week the Fishermen travel to the county seat to take on South Bend (0-1), who lost their opener last week at north county rival Willapa Valley, 28-8. The Vikings didn't need extra incentive against their longtime rival, but they had it just the same as they were re-opening Crogstad Field, which was closed last season due to renovations at the school.
South Bend is not the same team it was last year when they tied for the Pacific League title with Naselle and Valley with an 8-1 record, as a couple of their key players graduated.
A good sign for Ilwaco may be the fact that South Bend gave up 298 yards on the ground to the Vikings who have a three running back attack — similar to Ilwaco.
One thing you can never underestimate though is the South Bend home field advantage, a school with some of the most rabid and loyal fans as any school in the area — it will be their home opener.
Be sure to check back Saturday morning to find a photo gallery from the game, plus player blog posts and a game recap
Naselle vs. Warrenton, Ore., 7pm, Naselle High School
When we last saw the Naselle Comets (0-1) they were walking from the field at Wahkiakum High School after being shut out in the their season opener against their KM Hill rival, 0-13. Nothing seemed to go right as they fumbled the ball 5 times — including on the first play of the game — and gave up an interception. The team also lost LB/FB Alan Erickson in the second half with a sprained shoulder — he is out for this week's game. The Comets will also still be without RB Tony Fletcher, who is unavailable for one more week due to academic ineligibility.
But the Comets can't be too down, knowing that if they can just hold onto the ball they won't have a repeat of last week. Plus, they're playing their home opener in front of some of the most supportive fans in the area.
Warrenton (1-1) didn't play a superb game last week, but made big plays at the right time in order to beat Corbett, 21-15. And it was Warrenton's QB Josh Wheatley who was attached to a majority of those big plays. He didn't have amazing stats for the game, but he chose the right times to do his damage, scoring two running TDs and had a 65-yard kick return that led to the winning score.
Warrenton lost their opener that week before, when they were blown out at home by Nestucca, 0-42.
Check back Saturday for player blog posts and a game recap
No comments:
Post a Comment