Hockinson has semifinal berth in hand, holding off Steilacoom

CAMAS — It was a blowout until it wasn’t.

Hockinson cruised until it had to cling on.

And perhaps most importantly, the reigning Class 2A champion was reminded it can’t complete another title journey unless it finishes each game.

Hockinson beat Steilacoom 35-28 Friday in a Class 2A state quarterfinal game that wasn’t over until the Hawks grabbed an onside kick with under two minutes to play.

The game looked to be wrapped up when Hockinson (11-0) took a 35-7 lead with 7:39 to play.

But that was before Steilacoom (10-2) mounted three rapid-fire touchdown drives, including one that covered 99 yards in four plays.

It wasn’t until Peyton Brammer, already hobbled from a second-half injury, recovered Steilacoom’s third unsuccessful onside kick that Hockinson could look ahead to next weekend’s semifinals.

The top-seeded Hawks will face either No. 4 Liberty or No. 12 Ellensburg in the 2A semifinals next weekend. Time and location to be determined.

But first Hockinson can breathe a sigh of relief. Friday’s game at Doc Harris Stadium turned from a feel-good rout into a nail-biter.

“You’ve got to finish football games and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” Hockinson head coach Rick Steele said. “But the first three-and-half quarters were fantastic.”

Hockinson outscored 10 prior opponents by an average of 49.7 to 14.2.

“Part of our problem is that we haven’t played a game that has taken us four full quarters to win all year,” Steele said. “A game like this is big to show our kids, from start to finish, you’ve got to keep playing.”

With Sawyer Racanelli (6-foot-3) and Brammer (6-foot-5), few teams can match up athletically with Hockinson. Steilacoom was one of those – Linebacker/running back Jaymason Willingham signed to play at Utah State this week. Emeka Egbuka is regarded by recruiters as one of the top sophomores in the Northwest.

Friday, Egbuka had 12 catches for 195 yards, including touchdowns of 39 and 17 yards in the fourth quarter.

But Hockinson much of the game making key plays when it needed to. Racanelli had three touchdowns, including two rushing TDs from short yardage. Brammer had 104 yards receiving and one touchdown on six catches.

Quarterback Levi Crum completed 22 passes to eight different receivers.

“That was a really good team, great perimeter athletes,” Crum said. “But we’ve got those too, and we’ve got more. I thought we really showed what a well-rounded football team we have.”

Crum finished with 320 yards passing, many on screen passes to counter Steilacoom’s aggressive blitzing scheme.

“If they want to blitz, we’ll pop it right over the top,” Crum said. “If they blitz, it means we have another person open.”

Hockinson led 14-7 at halftime. Steilacoom didn’t keep pace in the third quarter, thanks to penalties and turnovers.

Three drives saw big Steilacoom plays, including a 62-yard touchdown, called back by penalties.

Late in the third quarter, Egbuka caught a 41-yard pass but fumbled at the 2-yard line. The ball went out of the end zone for a Hockinson touchback, one of four Steilacoom turnovers.

Hockinson took advantage of those breaks to build a sizable lead.

It ended up being just enough.

“We know that now we have to finish games,” junior lineman Robert Flores said. “Especially in the final four.”

HOCKINSON 35, STEILACOOM 28

Steilacoom 0 7 0 21—28

Hockinson 7 7 14 7—35

First quarter

H – Sawyer Racanelli 1 run (Nick Charles kick)

Second quarter

H – Nick Frichtl 23 pass from Levi Crum (Charles kick)

S – Jaymason Willingham 25 run (Ty Reeder kick)

Third quarter

H – Peyton Brammer 14 pass from Crum (Charles kick)

H – Racanelli 1 run (Charles kick)

Fourth quarter

H – Racanelli 7 pass from Crum (Charles kick)

S – Nehimiah Shird 13 pass from JJ Lemming (Reeder kick)

S – Emeka Egbuka 39 pass from Lemming (Reeder kick)

S – Egbuka 17 pass from Lemming (Reeder kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Steilacoom: Jaymason Willingham 8-44, JJ Lemming 4-4. Hockinson: Levi Crum 13-52, Sawyer Racanelli 10-47, Jon Domingos 2-10, Garrett Gundy 3-17, Cody Wheeler 4-17, Aidan Mallory 2-20.

PASSING – Steilacoom: JJ Lemming 24-40-1-402. Hockinson: Levi Crum 22-43-1-320, Sawyer Racanelli 0-1-0.

RECEIVING – Steilacoom: Jayden Coalson 5-50, Emeka Egbuka 12-195, Alex Brady 2-45, Nehimiah Shird 5-112. Hockinson: Sawyer Racanelli 6-98, Peyton Brammer 6-104, Nick Frichtl 2-49, Cody Wheeler 3-17, Garrett Gundy 2-15, Aidan Mallory 1-13, Jeremiah Faulstick 1-9, Jon Domingos 1-15.