Friday night in Naselle, the Comets (4-1, 1-1) hosted Pacific League rival the Willapa Valley Vikings (4-1, 2-0). Naselle has had a tough run with the Vikings, and it was no different this time around.
Willapa returned a short kick to around half-field to start the game and took no time at all to make their way down the throats of the previously super stout Comet defense. Viking QB Matt Friese was like a greased pig Friday night. He avoided several sacks in the first half and snuck his way out of way too many tackles. Missed tackles were probably the main reason we lost the game. However, in addition to the missed tackles, we weren't comfortable on offense in the first half. Our all-senior backfield was making mistakes expected of freshmen. We had several fumbles (thankfully not all lost) and several bouts of miscommunication which led to an unproductive first half.
Matt Friese played great ball for the Vikings. On another drive in the first half he took advantage of our blown coverage twice. The first was to a running back on a wheel route down the sideline for a 30+ yard gain. Our second blown coverage led to Valley's second TD.
At the half, we were down 14-0. In the locker room I could sense the youth, the guys who hadn't played against a quality team like Willapa, let alone be done two touchdowns at half, were flustered and a little confused. They hadn't experienced the gut-wrenching feeling, the "what was I thinking", or the true fear of losing that comes with being down at half. I talked to the guys about how it takes trust in each other on the field to win football games. During the first half we were having some internal issues as well as external. I also mentioned how we needed to believe that we can comeback and win the game. I truly believed we could. The first half was not what most of us would call Comet Football; it was more like Pee Wee. After a few minutes, Coach Eaton came in and gave his talk. He wasn't mad, disappointed sure, but he talked calmly about what we needed to fix on offense and on defense if we were going to tun the game in our favor. He told us how we were going to return to the veer option and basically pound away for the first drive in the third quarter.
We returned the opening kickoff to around the 30 yd line. Everything was looking good, we were ready to move the chains. However, an early fumble stopped our drive quickly. Our defense was not going to give up another score. Valley turned the ball over on downs and once we regained the ball, the pounding began. The veer option became our favorite play for the third quarter as we methodically marched down the field. Our drive took a long time and didn't payoff. Willapa was able stop us eight yards shy of our first touchdown. We actually had some previous trouble in the red zone Friday when Valley stopped us shy in the first half too.
Upon our turnover on downs, Valley marched the ball 92 yards to paydirt. In a way you could say it was a two touchdown gain for the Vikings. We should have scored to make it 14-6 (or 8), but instead Valley was able to run down the throat of our disheartened D and make it 21-0
I was proud of our team for not giving up. Instead of quiting after their final score we marched it down the field to our only touchdown of the game, a pass from Austin Burkhalter to Jesus Martinez. Valley took a knee to expire the time and give us our first loss of the season: 21-6, the exact same score as last year when we clashed in Menlo.
No one ever wants to lose. However, when you lose there seems to be more to learn. The age old "well we still won" excuse is no longer in play because everything you did or didn't do led to a loss. You start to think about why such and such happened and how you can fix it. I know that the sting of the loss is still in our hearts. Its hard to forget. But I also think that the sting is just going to feed the fire in Naselle, it's going to be an eye-opener for everyone, especially the sophomores who haven't really had one of these experiences. We know that this loss hasn't ruined our playoff goal. We have gone to the playoffs the past two years and in each year Willapa Valley got the best of us in the regular season. This is nothing new. Now begins the rest of the season.
Next week we play Northwest Christian. I am unsure of the location of the game. We will be looking to re-group this week and with the return of four of the five suspended players will be at nearly full strength. Go Comets!
Alan Erickson
NHS LB FB
To God be the Glory
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