High School Football: Toutle Lake outruns Ilwaco 36-21 to open season
Volcano to Coast Rivalry – Ducks fight for first win over Ilwaco in a generation
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High School Football
TOUTLE — The Fighting Duck came out in Week 1 and put up their season-opening offensive output in a decade and a half with a 36-21 non-league win over Ilwaco, Friday, Sept. 5, at Toutle Lake High School.
The last time the Ducks scored more points in their first game of the season was a 38-18 win over North Beach back in 2011.
More importantly, it was just the second time since 2015 that Toutle Lake managed to open the season with a victory.
That result was powered primarily by quarterback Jamison Schelb, who threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran in another. Austin Webber added a rushing touchdown and 112 yards, while Dom (Settlemier) Rivera ran for 102 yards and a touchdown of his own.
And for those of you keeping track at home, Friday night’s win was the first time Toutle Lake has gotten the best of Ilwaco on the gridiron in at least 20 years. That counter punch is just the latest chapter in a burgeoning rivalry between the teams from the far opposite ends of The Blast Zone coverage area.
“Being fairly new to Toutle, I have picked up that there is no love lost between us,” Green said. “We usually wind up playing in Districts in baseball and that’s always competitive, maybe a little chirpy kind of game. And it’s always a packed house for basketball… We have our definite run-ins with Ilwaco.”
And it was Ilwaco who lit up the scoreboard in East Cowlitz County first. The Fishermen were able to slip a couple tackles and extended what looked like a doomed early drive until they found the end zone.
That development meant it was gut check time for the Fighting Ducks. And they passed the test.
“If we’d done that last year, we would have gone into shell shock and shutdown,” Green said.
Instead, Toutle Lake got back to taking tackling seriously, and let their offense get busy turning an early hole in to a 16-7 lead at halftime.
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