Defense sparks Columbia River to 24-14 win over Hockinson

As he so often seems to be, Preston Shearer was in the right place and the right time for Columbia River.

The senior captain broke through to block a second-quarter field goal that led to a touchdown that was the turning point in a 24-14 win for the Rapids over Hockinson in a 2A Greater St. Helens League game Friday at John O’Rourke Field.

“He’s been Mr. Everything for us this year,” River coach Dewayne Patterson said. “It’s still crazy to think he’s coming off a broken leg (last season). He’s playing out of his mind right now.”

Hockinson came out hot early, with Aiden Donowitz throwing touchdown passes for Madsen Richardson and Ryder Stenerson to give the Hawks a 14-3 lead with 4:12 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks looked primed to score on their third possession of the game when Owen Donowitz lined up to kick a 26-yard field goal.

But Shearer blocked it and Ha’aheo Delarose scooped up the loose ball and raced 79 yards for a touchdown.

“They blocked it; I (saw) it,” Delarose said. “I scooped it up and all I did was want to run.”

Instead of being down 17-3, River trailed just 14-10.

From there, the defense got stop after stop, allowing the offense to get going.

Delarose had a 40-yard reception late in the second quarter to set up Greg Blau’s 15-yard touchdown catch from Cole Pearson as River took a 17-14 lead into halftime.

“We noticed our mistakes,” Delarose said of the defensive switch. “We fixed them and we improved.”

The Rapids then forced three turnovers in the second half — a fumble recovery by Luke McWilliams and two interceptions by Ethan Bumgarner — to turn back Hockinson drives.

“It was a team effort,” Baumgarner said. “We all had to step up. We all had to start doing our jobs. We had a little talk at halftime, came back out and we were successful.”

After Baumgarner’s second interception with 5:23 left, River then drove 50 yards on eight consecutive runs to seal the win on Bumgarner’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:13 to play.

“That’s Wing-T football,” Patterson said. “We were trying to run the clock out. We had a chance to punch it in, so we punched it in.”

Baumgarner said: “That felt great. That’s how our offense is supposed to work. I was just glad we were able to keep pushing.”

River, which improved to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the 2A GSHL, will face Ridgefield next Friday. Hockinson (0-6, 0-4) meets Mark Morris.

COLUMBIA RIVER 24, HOCKINSON 14

Hockinson         14          0             0             0—14

Col. River           3             14          0             7—24

First quarter

H—Madsen Richardson 44 pass from Aiden Donowitz (Owen Donowitz kick)

CR—Aeden Pena 26 FG

H—Ryder Stenersen 30 pass from A. Donowitz (O. Donowitz kick)

Second quarter

CR—Ha’aheo Delarose 79 blocked field goal return (Pena kick)

CR—Greg Blau 15 pass from Cole Pearson (Pena kick)

Fourth quarter

CR—Ethan Bumgarner 3 run (Pena kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Hockinson: Leniel Sutton 13-52, Aiden Donowitz 8-9, Jasper Armstrong 2-2, Easton Weber 8-17, Jake McKee 1-3, team 1-(-4). Columbia River: Joey Ianello 15-87, Aeden Pena 6-45, Aiden Deeney 1-(-5), Ethan Bumgarner 12-9, team 3-(-31).

PASSING — Hockinson: Aiden Donowitz 14-27-2-243. Columbia River: Cole Pearson 8-18-1-166.

RECEIVING —  Hockinson: Madsen Richardson 2-44, Ryder Stenersen 3-83, Jasper Armstrong 1-7, Zachary Chung 2-51, Kyle Alexander 5-52, Easton Weber 1-6. Columbia River: Blau 3-46, Delarose 2-52, Ianello 2-40, Pena 1-8.