PHOTO GALLERY: Wahkiakum races by fast-paced Pomeroy in State quarterfinals
In Focus – Mules overcome slow start on the way to 66-34 win over Pirates at Schroeder Field
Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Prep Football / Photo Gallery
LAULAINEN STADIUM — For the second week in a row the Mules were forced to ponder in real time what it feels like to play from behind. And for the second week in a row Wahkiakum found its footing and pulled away in a hurry.
This time the Mules brought the greatest-show-on-natural-grass to the synthetic threads at Schroeder Field and made themselves at home over the final three quarters for a 66-34 win over No. 6 ranked Pomeroy in the 1B State quarterfinals.
Wahkiakum trailed early, though, and any hopes of a shutout were erased in the first minute of action. That less than ideal start saw the Mules’ fail to recover an onside kick to open the contest. Then the insane-paced Pirates needed just 48 seconds to cover roughly 50 yards, with a short touchdown run by Kyzer Herres to cap that race to the end zone.
It was a shocking start against a Pomeroy side that averaged one player every 14 seconds during both of their first-quarter scoring drives. But that pace proved to be unsustainable for the visitors against a bunch of Mules who only seem to get stronger the they longer they work.
“They’re just hard to stop and you’ve got to know that you’re going to give up touchdowns,” Wahkiakum head coach Ryan Lorenzo said. “We went into this game going, ‘If we can hold them under 40, we’ll win… That’s what we’re looking for when we play. We don’t need to stop you every time. We just need to stop you once or twice, and that will be enough.”
And if that sounds like a low standard for the Mules’ defense, it would be more accurate to read it as a salute to their high-powered and multifaceted offense.
— Wahkiakum quarterback Jayden Stoddard (6) tosses the ball to Cooper Carlson (11) with a shovel pass and Carlson does the rest for an18-yard touchdown during a win over Pomeroy in the 1B quarterfinals at Schroeder Field. / Video by Ben Hendrickson for Blast Zone Media —
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