Tenino's Terran Gilbreath, Thomas Pier and Dominyc Nakano celebrate the Beavers' 41-7 victory over White Salmon in the crossover play Friday night in Centralia's Tiger Stadium to advance to the State 1A playoffs.
The Beavers are in unfamiliar territory, as far as brackets are concerned.
In more of a physical sense, however, they're quite comfortable playing on the turf and within the trappings of Centralia's Tiger Stadium, where they'll host King's Friday night in the first round of the State 1A football playoffs.
"It felt like home," said Tenino coach Jeff Zenisek, whose Beavers beat White Salmon 41-7 in Centralia in a district crossover game on Friday. "They're excited, and that's what state's about. We're no longer at home, we're getting to play elsewhere, and we have teams coming to us, and that's good.
"We told the kids, 'This'll be our home field from now on.'"
The situation isn't what anyone would have expected given the start to Tenino's season. The Beavers dropped nonleague games to Raymond (27-21) and Washougal (28-7), then lost 36-35 to Elma in their 1A Evergreen opener.
Since then, though, they ran the table in league action, winning three games in the fourth quarter and another — at Forks — in double-overtime.
The key for the Beavers' improvement has been in growing together, and growing into their particular brand of football — one that stands in contrast to the big-play team Tenino fielded last season.
"Last year it used to be the one play, and we'd be scoring from 90 yards out with Devante (Harris)," Zenisek said. "This year we're not. We came to the realization that we've got to work for everything we get."
The team's youngsters have also grown up — namely running back/wide receiver Thomas Pier and quarterback Calvin Guzman.
"Just seeing how those guys have developed and grown, with Calvin throwing the ball, hitting wide receivers and making decisions — that's kind of been the biggest aspect of where we've grown," Zenisek said.
The one player that hasn't required much in the way of growing up is senior running back/linebacker Zack Chamberlain, announced last week as the 1A Evergreen MVP.
"We're seeing him emerge this last half of the season, and kind of emerge as a powerful running back," Zenisek said. "This last game (against White Salmon), he actually had some moves. He made one guy miss, and then he's hard to bring down. He's just what you love in a high school running back, that's for sure."
Chamberlain's style is contagious. The Monday film sessions have become an opportunity to see who Chamberlain laid hits on, and who can hit like Zack.
"They want to play harder for him, and they want to make those blocks, and be that physical," Zenisek said. "They're starting to improve."
King's (8-2) is led by its own sophomore quarterback, Koa Wilkins, who ran for 119 yards and passed for 192 (10 of 16) in a 30-12 win over Eatonville in a Tri-District seeding game last week. Wilkins is in a role most recently held by Billy Green, now a redshirt quarterback at BYU, and Thomas Vincent, who was a walk-on at the University of Washington.
"They're in the playoffs every year, and there's a reason why," said Zenisek. "They're kind of like Montesano. They're a football factory up there."
The Knights are in the playoffs for the fifth straight year, and, coincidentally, lost to eventual champion Montesano, 17-7, in the second round last year.
"They run a spread offense a little bit like us. They don't have a tight end in the game as much, but they spread you out and run a four-wide-receiver look," Zenisek said. "They utilize their quarterback and running back in running it quite a bit."
Against Eatonville, he added, Wilkins ran the ball on the first five plays of the game.
"They've got a lot of weapons," he said. "They've got good team speed, and their receiving corps' good."
The winner of the King's/Tenino game will face either Montesano (6-4) or Cascade Christian (9-0) the following week.
The way the Beavers have improved and gelled, there's a solid chance that quarterfinal game could be played back in Centralia.
"It's kind of like a business trip when we travel," Zenisek said. "When we're done, it's fun, but they've just been more focused than I've ever seen a team at getting better every game."
