Mike Christensen felt it took two drives for the Toledo High School’s football team to get “comfortable” defensively and the offense followed suit en route to a 26-13 triumph over Goldendale on Saturday afternoon at home.
It moves the Riverhawks to 2-0 heading into the final non-league game against Pe Ell/Willapa Valley in Willapa next week.
“It was a physical contest,” Christensen, the head coach of Toledo, said. “This was a matchup I want to do more of, East (versus) West. I wanted to pick three hard (non-league) games and PWV fits in that.”
After giving up a score in the first quarter, the Riverhawks started to gain momentum in the second frame behind a 28-yard burst from Carter Swofford. Then Eli Weeks launched a 68-yard touchdown pass to speedster Trevin Gale to take the lead for good.
Swofford and Weeks each registered third quarter rushing scores. Swofford finished with 147 yards while Weeks totaled over 200 offensive yards. Toledo out-gained Goldendale 366-182 and despite three fumbles, it never lost one.
“It was a good learning experience,” Christensen said.
