Columbia River football rolls to 3A state

The Columbia River Chieftains are going back to the Class 3A state football playoffs.

They hope to get comfortable, too, hoping to keep playing football in Clark County for at least a couple more weeks.

Columbia River shook off a slow start Saturday, then rolled past Garfield of Seattle 44-6 in a state preliminary round playoff game at Kiggins Bowl. The Chieftains (8-2) will host Roosevelt in the first round (probably Saturday) and if things go River’s way, there would be another home game, too.

Not that the Chieftains want to get too far ahead of themselves.

They did not look past Garfield on Saturday, but they did acknowledge to having some playoff nerves in the first quarter.

No problem for River, not with Gabe Evenson quarterbacking the squad. He threw for four touchdown passes — three to Nathan Hawthorne — and the Chieftains scored 41 points in the final three quarters.

“It was kind of funny. Before the game started, I was level. I was perfect. I was feeling great,” Evenson said. “As soon as the game started, I could feel my heart racing. I felt it pumping in my chest.”

There was a dropped pass early, then an overthrow.

“It got to me. I won’t lie,” Evenson said of the playoff atmosphere.

“Once we got over that, we all calmed down as a team,” he explained. “We performed to the level we expected to play. That was great.”

Evenson found Carson Bassett for a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter — on a play that looked like it was stolen from Peyton Manning’s playbook. Evenson and Hawthorne teamed up for two touchdown passes later in the quarter, giving the Chieftains a 24-6 lead at the half.

Hawthorne said the Chieftains were just trying to do too much in the first quarter, and there were some missed opportunities.

“What it came down to is being able to relax,” Hawthorne said. “Gabe did that, and then the rest of the team did that.”

The Evenson-Hawthorne combo worked again to open the second-half scoring, this time a 33-yarder that showcased Hawthorne’s strength as he broke a series of tackles on the way to the end zone.

Evenson, who started the day 1 for 5, finished 24 of 38 for 242 yards and the four TDs. Hawthorne led the River receivers with eight catches for 86 yards and his three TDs.

The Columbia River defense was just as dominant as the offense. Garfield’s Winfred Roberson beat the pass defense for a 72-yard touchdown pass from Jack Schwaegler in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs only had two plays in the red zone the rest of the game.

“It was really satisfying,” said River defensive lineman Isaac Ennis, noting Garfield’s solid linemen. “It wasn’t easy to do. It’s fun to play against people who are good. It was a fight the whole game.”

A battle that River won most of the night, too.

“We were working for that all week,” Ennis said. “It’s great to know we can do that.”

River held Garfield to 203 yards and forced five turnovers. Jacob Bystry, Hawthorne, Nic Briggs, and Vincent Daniels all had interceptions. Briggs also recovered a fumble for the Chieftains.

Garrett McKee got the Chieftains on the board with a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter. River made it 11-0 after the first TD pass from Evenson and then a two-point conversion.

Garfield responded with the long TD pass, then it was all River.

Travon Santiago scored on a 7-yard run in the third quarter, then McKee, playing quarterback, kept one for a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.

“It’s a great confidence boost, but you gotta realize … the competition is only going to get stronger from here on out,” Evenson said. “We can’t glorify ourselves for one victory.”

Columbia River has now made it to Week 11 in each of the past three seasons. The Chieftains have not reached Week 12 since 2002, though.

“I think we can get there,” Ennis said. “Not with ease, but with plenty of work.”

COLUMBIA RIVER 44, GARFIELD 6

Garfield 0 6 0 6– 6

Col. River 3 21 13 7–44

First quarter

CR — Garrett McKee 37 FG

Second quarter

CR — Carson Bassett 10 pass from Gabe Evenson (McKee run)

Gar — Winfred Roberson 72 pass from Jack Schwaegler (kick blocked)

CR — Nathan Hawthorne 8 pass from Evenson (pass failed)

CR — Hawthorne 12 pass from Evenson (McKee kick)

Third quarter

CR — Hawthorne 33 pass from Evenson (kick blocked)

CR — Travon Santiago 7 run (McKee kick)

Fourth quarter

CR — McKee 1 run (Nathan Pyles kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Garfield: Schwaegler 10-(minus 4), Antoine Patton 12-36, Ramari Hampton 4-12, Roberson 8-45, William Marley 1-(minus 9). Columbia River: Nic Briggs 8-42, Evenson 7-8, Vincent Daniels 11-79, Bassett 1-(minus 3), Santiago 8-57, McKee 2-3, Matt Ruffalo 2-3, Hunter Pearson 2-5.

PASSING — Garfield: Schwaegler 7-18-4-123, Roberson 1-2-0-25. Columbia River: 24-38-0-242, McKee 2-2-0-13.

RECEIVING — Garfield: Roberson 3-83, Ian Sander 1-25, Hampton 2-16, Patton 1-(minus 1), Rashad Swank Jones 1-25. Columbia River: Hawthorne 8-86, Jacob Bystry 4-72, Bassett 4-14, Holden Fielding 4-58, Daniels 2-11, Russell Rose 2-8, Jacob Ringold 1-(minus 1), Blake Duhamel 2-13.