Week 3: Feathers ruffled, Ducks await Mules
Thursday, September 18, 2008 11:49 PM PDT
By Ben Zimmerman
Printable version
E-mail this articleIf Toutle Lake had to lose a game this season, then yes, Ducks coach Scott Grabenhorst said, it might as well have happened the week before the Wahkiakum game.
“If you’re gonna lose, that’s probably the time to do it,” he said. “I’m not sure losing is ever a good thing. But it certainly causes everyone to reflect, and causes you to go back and focus on the areas you need to fix.”
Contrast this sober, matter-of-fact take with that of Mules coach Eric Hansen, who fears that by beating Toutle Lake last week, Willapa Valley may have “awakened the sleeping giant.”
“Like Yamamoto said after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,” Hansen said tongue-in-cheek — but with a sprinkle of truth, worry and concern.
The veteran Wahkiakum general was wary of Toutle’s strength, or as Yamamoto would say, its “terrible resolve,” long before the Vikings smacked the Ducks in the mouth.
“I think Toutle is a tough place to play any time, beginning of the season or end,” he said. “Let’s face it. They were on a red-hot roll last year and it carried them to the championship game. They are deadly when they get rolling. I think they’ve still got it.”
Wahkiakum (2-0, 1-0 league) hopes to keep the Ducks (1-1, 0-0) stuck in neutral when it visits Toutle tonight for a Central 2B League showdown. The Mules have lost back-to-back games in the series against TL, but revenge is a secondary consideration with a league win at stake.
“If you wanna get to the postseason, you need to win league games,” Hansen said. “There are six legit teams in our league — and you’d better be ready for the other three — vying for three (playoff) spots. I think on any given Friday night that if you aren’t ready to play, you can end up on the outside looking in real quick.”
“We do like (playing the Mules) early, because it’s nice to play some of the best right off the bat,” added Grabenhorst. “You find out real quick what needs to be adjusted. But honestly, we’ve enjoyed it being the last game, the big build-up game, where you can go in and feel like you have everything together. We still feel like we’re in preseason mode. Starting tonight we definitely aren’t in preseason mode any more.”
In the last week of the 2006 season, Toutle beat Wahkiakum in Cathlamet to clinch the league championship. A standard schedule shuffle moved the matchup up to Week 3 in 2007, and it remains there in ‘08, although due to reclassification, the Ducks get to host the Mules for the second consecutive year.
“I’m certainly not going to argue with the way it worked out,” Grabenhorst joked. “It’s a whole new cycle. They completely redrew the league schedule. Everything is in different weeks, and home and aways didn’t necessarily come out the opposite.”
“Just the way it works,” said Hansen. “Not much we can do about schedules.”
Hansen is more concerned with what his Mules can do about Toutle’s potent running game.
“I’m actually concerned about everything,” he said. “They’ve got multiple weapons. They’ve got (Jeff) Campbell, Boomer Nash, (Cody) O’Connor who can run and throw, (Tyler) Elam, (Cody) Morain, (Tim) Kelly. Take your pick. They can get you outside, inside and in the air.”
Toutle Lake rushed for more than 300 yards against Willapa Valley, and showed glimpses of the juggernaut it may become with the roster of playmakers mentioned by Hansen. But it lacked sorely in execution, and cannot afford an encore against the Mules, Grabenhorst said.
“We turned the ball over. We lost two fumbles and had a bad snap on a punt. We didn’t cover kickoffs well,” he added. “We had penalties and turnover and didn’t tackle well. We didn’t maintain good team leverage. We were not sharp. We were not efficient.”
The Ducks will re-focus on such “little things” with their healthiest crew of the season. Everyone is “really starting to get in game shape,” Grabenhorst said, and two-way senior starter Josh Fias, who missed the Valley game with a hand injury, should be available for duty, wearing a cast.
“We’re optimistic that will give us more solidity up front,” he added.
Toutle will need all hands on deck to deal with Wahkiakum’s pesky Wing-T offense.
“They appear to have very good team quickness,” said Grabenhorst. “I’m really impressed with their linemen. They look real polished on both sides of the ball for how early it is in the season.”
Whatever polish exists owes to the leadership of the Mules’ seniors. All four of them. Blake Anderson, Stian Vik, Ben Doumit and Joel Fudge have led the way in wins over Naselle and Morton, said Hansen.
“The key thing is that we haven’t beaten ourselves,” he added. “We haven’t given up turnovers or big plays. We want to stay balanced on offense, not give up big plays, hopefully get a few three-and-outs.
“This really is a big game, this early on,” Hansen said. “Winning a game like this can really help you down the road. No doubt. Especially for us. We’ve got a lot more to gain than Toutle, because we didn’t make the playoffs last year. We haven’t been the frontrunner for a while.”
Elsewhere in 7 p.m. kickoffs:
n Rainier, Ore. (2-1) at Woodland (1-1): One of the season’s most intriguing nonleague matchups. Woodland gets the first Washington stab at slowing Andrew Allen (Kalama will try next week).
n Mark Morris (2-0) at Eatonville (0-2): The Monarchs have an excellent opportunity to start a season 3-0 for the first time this decade when they visit Eatonville for its home opener.
The Cruisers are allowing an average of 43.5 points per game.
n R.A. Long (1-1) vs. Washington (0-2), at Franklin Pierce High School: The Jacks look to bounce back after a lackluster performance against Astoria in Week 2. Some R.A. Long coaches have mentioned a possible platoon system at quarterback, with William Yordy sharing snaps with fellow junior J Nusbaum, in an attempt to jump-start the moribund offense.
n Kalama (2-0) at Tenino (1-1): Tenino plays its home opener against a Chinooks squad that has looked very impressive. Kalama destroyed Class 2A schools in consecutive weeks; now the ‘Nooks battle a district foe they could see again in the playoffs.
Tenino running back Jason May rushed for 127 yards on 26 carries in a Week 2 loss against Onalaska.
n Winlock (2-0) at Rainier, Wash. (2-0): Teams that have suffered through many recent down seasons find themselves undefeated and squaring off in an Evergreen Division game that suddenly has sizzle.
Rainier has the highest-scoring offense in the entire Southwest Washington 1A League. Winlock has followed the lead of explosive running back Mike Ayon.
n Montesano (2-0) at Toledo (2-0): Is this the year the Indians take a bite out of Monte’s Evergreen supremacy?
Toledo has developed a potent 1-2 backfield punch in Mike White and Mitchell Fiecke. Both need to have big games in this crucial league showdown.
n Ridgefield (0-2) at Castle Rock (1-0): Ridgefield has scored just 15 points in two games and won’t get a break this week.
Castle Rock came close to knocking off Montesano on the road and has become more and more balanced in its offense each week.
n Naselle (1-1) at Ilwaco (0-2): Playing without key running backs/linebackers Alan Erickson and Tony Fletcher, Naselle still managed to handle a state-ranked Warrenton team.
Both are expected to play tonight, which will make this tougher on an Ilwaco team that has played well in spurts.
n Knappa (3-0) at Clatskanie (1-2): The Tigers look to bounce back after taking their licks at the hands of the top-ranked Class 2A team in Oregon. It won’t be easy against a Logger squad that has romped 27-0, 42-6 and 35-0 in its first three contests.
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