Hockinson’s 41-7 thrashing of Washougal may have been surprising to the average viewer, but to the Hawks, it wasn’t a shock.
It was validating.
The offense put its foot on the gas early, and Hockinson (6-0, 4-0 2A GSHL) dominated the Panthers in just about every way. For Washougal, which started the season at a historic pace, the game meant a lot more than most weeks.
Hockinson coach Rick Steele acknowledged that the Panthers are the best team they’ve faced all season. He also sees a trend with the way his opponents get up to play the Hawks.
“The thing about us is that every time we show up for a game we get everybody’s best game,” Steele said. “And I think we’re going to get (Columbia) River’s best game next week.”
The team has become accustomed to it. They were unfazed against Washougal, and expect the Chieftains bring the same intensity.
“We’ve got to be ready to go,” he said. “We’ve got to get better this week in practice.”
Playoff letdown plays role in overtime
In Adam Mathieson’s 10 years as head coach of the Mountain View program, he’d never been involved in an overtime game until Friday night at McKenzie Stadium against 3A GSHL rival Kelso.
But Mathieson did have experience with the Kansas Plan overtime format. Two years ago, the Thunder were involved in a three-way tiebreaker for two spots in the 4A state playoffs against Battle Ground and Skyview. They didn’t score against either team and as a result missed out on the postseason.
Mathieson drew upon that failure as he contemplated his strategy vs. the Hilanders.
“I was super conservative in that playoff,” he said. “So I said to myself that tonight, I’m going to throw four straight bombs if I have to.”
Only one was needed. On first down, Glen Perry Jr. threw a perfect ball to Makai Anderson, who jumped over the Kelso defender in the end zone for the 25-yard touchdown to seal Mountain View’s 29-23 victory.
Mathieson had been waiting for Anderson to have this type of breakout game. The 6-foot junior’s main focus is basketball, and at times, the coaching staff’s patience was tested.
“The kid can do a 360-degree dunk on the basketball court,” Mathieson said, “and I was like, when are you going to 360 dunk it on the football field, so to speak.”
Consider Friday a slam dunk for Anderson, who had a career-high five catches for 98 yards and three touchdowns, all of them on jump balls in the end zone.
The game-winner in overtime came after Mountain View let a 23-7 lead slip away in the second half.
“That’s on me. I called crappy plays. I should have just kept throwing the ball to Makai,” Mathieson quipped as he cracked a smile. “Glen gave him the chance to catch the ball on that last throw, and Makai went up and made a play.”
Hit leads to flashback for Papermakers
A play in the third quarter of Camas’ 38-20 victory Friday gave Papermaker fans a scare — and a flashback — to last season’s 4A state semifinal.
A 15-yard personal-foul penalty for a late hit by a Skyview defender on Camas’ Ryan Rushall brought chants of “kick him out” from the Camas’ student section. No player was ejected.
Rushall was going across the middle for a catch when the ball was thrown high out of his reach. After the ball sailed by, Rushall took two steps before being struck to the ground.
Rushall was not injured on the play, and remained in the game after being checked out by trainers on the sideline. He said postgame he had the “wind knocked out of me” and went through the standard concussion protocol.
The 15-yard penalty gave Camas a fresh set of downs, and led to an eventual field goal. Andrew Boyle’s 39-yarder with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the quarter made it a two-score game at 31-20. The Papermakers added a fourth-quarter touchdown for the game’s final score.
In last season’s 4A state semifinal win over Sumner, Drake Owen absorbed a hit by a Sumner player attempting to fair-catch a punt. Later, the WIAA determined the hit should have led to an ejection.
