2A football: Hockinson’s first state playoff game simply perfect

It was, Hockinson coach Rick Steele said, the perfect football game.

It certainly worked out perfectly for his Hawks.

In the first state playoff game in program history, the Hockinson defense was its dominant best on Saturday in a 7-2 win at North Kitsap of Poulsbo.

The victory advances the 11-0 Hawks to a Class 2A state quarterfinal game against Lynden. Hockinson will again be on the road.

Tommy Harshaw’s 29-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the difference in a battle between two teams whose defenses had led them to 10-0 records. The scoring run capped a seven-play drive after the Hawks recovered a fumble at midfield.

North Kitsap took a 2-0 lead earlier in the third quarter. After punting the ball inside the Hockinson 1-yard line, the Vikings T.J. Jensen tackled Harshaw in the end zone for a safety.

North Kitsap crossed midfield one more time but did not get deep in Hawks territory. After one promising first-quarter drive, Steele said his defense figured out how to bottle up the Vikings ground game. Also hampering North Kitsap was a first-half knee injury that knocked leading rusher Kyle North out of the game.

“We totally shut down their rushing attack and had quite a few sacks,” Steele said. “The kids just played a great defensive game.”

The last big play was a fourth-and-short stop with the Vikings on the Hockinson 43 and two minutes remaining. Quarterback Chris Andrews dove for the first-down marker but came up inches short.

The touchdown came on a power running play to the left that Harshaw was able to take to the end zone.

Quarterback Mitch Lines had a third-quarter touchdown called back because of a penalty. The Hawks also missed a 42-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter.

“It feels really good,” Steele said. “The kids just battled. Our guys were exhausted at the end of the game. And so was their team. It was a perfect football game.”

HOCKINSON 7, NORTH KITSAP 2

Hockinson 0 0 7 0—7

North Kitsap 0 0 2 0—2

Third quarter

NK — Safety

Hoc — Tommy Harshaw 29 run (Quentin Bodenhamer kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Hockinson: Mitch Lines 3-0, Tommy Harshaw 14-45, Austin Johnson 8-25, Steven Carlisle 1-3, Joe Davis 3-18. NK: Chris Andrews 6-9, Kyle North 5-15, TJ Jensen 10-13, Sean Crowell 4-25, Sam Henden 10-37.

PASSING — Hockinson: Lines 6-13-0-79. NK: Andrews 7-13-0-61, Andrew Hecker 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Hockinson: Harshaw 2-17, Johnson 1-11, Kedrick Johnson 1-11, Cameron Loos 2-34, Quentin Sills 1-6. NK: Jensen 1-(minus-2), Crowell 1-8, Henden 1-13, Hecker 4-42.