PHOTO GALLERY: Toledo advances to State championship game
In Focus – Images, stats and quotes from the Riverhawks' 24-8 semifinal win over Okanogan
Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
SID OTTON FIELD — For the first time since 1996 the Toledo football team will be playing until the final week of the season. The No. 1 ranked and undefeated Riverhawks guaranteed at least that much with a 24-8 win over No. 5 Okanogan, Saturday, at Tumwater Stadium in the 2B State semifinals.
The Bulldogs were big , and strong, and fast, and they got off the bus in western Washington having won the previous two State championship games, while having played in the last three. And none of that mattered much at all to Toledo. After a short adjustment period early on, the Riverhawks went on to assert their dominance in convincing fashion.
“Their quarterback is good… and they have good receivers so that’s always a little bit scary,” Toledo head coach Mike Christensen said. “The fact that we can have faith in our guys to kind of cover one-on-one every once in a while really puts us in a good situation.”
It wasn’t easy though. In fact, the first 21 minutes of the contest were played almost entirely between the 35-yard lines, with neither team able to sustain an offensive drive. But Toledo was simply waiting out its opponent, and just before halftime the Riverhawks were able to post a pair of scores in just over two minutes to seize the momentum for good.
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