Hockinson makes another date to Tacoma Dome

This win, the Hockinson Hawks say, definitely was earned.

Perhaps the most well-earned victory of the Hawks’ previous 11 wins given what they endured to win Saturday’s 2A state semifinal against Liberty and get back to the Tacoma Dome to defend their 2A state championship.

Hockinson, a team that’s now won 26 in a row dating back to the final game of 2016, trailed by as much as 17 points. For the first time all season, a Hawks team that has outscored opponents 46-16 this season trailed in the fourth quarter. The offense went to some trickery, and the Hawks’ defense made three consecutive stops in Liberty’s final drive as part of shutting out the Patriots in the second half.

It all made for a thrilling finish in a 27-24 win for Hockinson at McKenzie Stadium to send the Hawks (12-0) back to the state title game where it faces tradition-rich Lynden at 1 p.m. next Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

“It’s unbelievable the kind of heart this team has,” said junior Sawyer Racanelli. “This team really stepped up. A lot of kids stepped up. It’s unbelievable to be able to go back-to-back to get to the state championship (game).”

Said senior Nick Frichtl: “All the little things won us this game. The heart, not quitting, keeping our heads cool and playing our game.”

For the second straight week, Hockinson was in for a down-to-the-wire finish. Unlike last week’s state quarterfinal when it had a comfortable early fourth-quarter before Steilacoom rallied to get within a score late, Hockinson scored 20 unanswered points after trailing 24-7 at one point. Sawyer Racanelli’s 1-yard plunge with 6 minutes, 49 seconds to go in the game gave the Hawks their first lead.

Before that, Hockinson climbed a mountain after trailing most of the game against a Liberty team it faced for the third time in four seasons in the playoffs.

Saturday already wasn’t going to be easy. Hockinson missed key personnel, including junior all-league receiver and cornerback Peyton Brammer. The junior suffered a foot fracture in last week’s win over Steilacoom, and his absence on defense meant a trio of players shuffled in the secondary.

And it didn’t get any easier watching the Patriots put up points in four of their first five possessions.

Hockinson miscues and two early turnovers led to 10 Liberty points. The Patriots (10-3) used their run game and a number of big pass plays to power their way to a 24-7 lead at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter. Three plays after Jacob Thoresen’s big 48-yard catch, he scored on a 13-yard run.

Quarterback Sam Brown, a one-time defensive end, rushed 11 times for 56 yards and also completed 9 of 17 passes for 139 yards.

As it turned out, trickery did the trick for Hockinson to find an offensive groove.

It used four trick plays — two on consecutive plays to end the first half with a touchdown — and the final two on its final scoring drive.

Hockinson went 80 yards in 14 plays capped by Sawyer Racanelli’s second 1-yard scoring plunge. On that possession, five of his seven touches were pass plays, including a second hook-and-ladder to Wyatt Jones and a reverse run for 12 yards.

“We might as well get a little trickery,” Racanelli said. “Things weren’t really working, so we said why not. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but a few works, so that was pretty cool.”

Racanelli finished with 11 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown, two rushing touchdowns of 1 yard and also the half-back pass for a 33-yard strike to Frichtl (3 catches, 75 yards) as part of the sequence that led Hockinson pulling within 24-14 at halftime.

Coach Rick Steele says there’s only a handful of trick plays in the book, and naturally, by outscoring opponents 46-16 this season, many trick plays aren’t going to be seen in games when Hockinson had comfortable leads on opponents.

But the play calls for trickery had a bigger impact than the Hawks initially thought, said senior Wyatt Jones, the recipient of the hook-and-ladder on two plays.

“It carries us for the momentum we needed to step up our game, and get the yards we needed to,” Jones said.

And so did the defense. Liberty’s final three possessions resulted in a punt, interception in the end zone and a turnover on downs. On its final drive, penalties and defensive stops by Hockinson powered the Hawks’ stop. Three straight possessions, the defense got to Brown forcing a third-and-32. Frichtl had two sacks on three plays.

They face a storied Lynden program with six state titles since 2006. Lynden, in fact, is the last 2A school to win back-to-back titles since winning three straight from 2011-’13.

Hockinson wants to be next.

“We want to keep this thing going,” Frichtl said. “We want to create a powerhouse in Clark County.”

HOCKINSON 27, LIBERTY 24

Liberty 7 17 0 0 -24

Hockinson 0 14 6 7 -27

First quarter

L – Jacob Thoresen 2 run (Connor Davis kick)

Second quarter

H – Sawyer Racanelli 60 pass from Levi Crum (Nick Charles kick)

L – Ryan Kirschner 54 run (Davis kick)

L – Davis 20 FG

L – Thoresen 13 run (Davis kick)

H – Nick Frichtl 35 pass from Racanelli (Charles kick)

Third quarter

H — Racanelli 1 run (kick blocked)

Fourth quarter

H — Racanelli 1 run (Charles kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Liberty: Sam Brown 11-56, Jacob Thoresen 9-51, Ryan Kirschner 6-71, Caleb Carr 2-1, Ryan Cain 4-34, Briar Cameron 2-10; Hockinson: Jon Domingos 1-8, Levi Crum 10-68, Sawyer Racanelli 9-38, Cody Wheeler 3-10.

PASSING — Liberty: Sam Brown 9-17-1-139; Hockinson: Levi Crum 18-37-1-283, Sawyer Racanelli 1-1-0-33.

RECEIVING — Liberty: Ryan Kirschner 4-51, Jacob Thoresen 3-68, Freddie Weisbrod 2-17; Hockinson: 11-197, Cody Wheeler 2-6, Wyatt Jones 0-32, Nick Fritchl 3-75, Jon Domindos 1-1, Jeremiah Faulstick 1-4.