Week 8 left the Southwest Washington 8-Man League standings in a mess, with Quinault leading the way with a 6-1 league record, Pe Ell at 5-1, and Adna and Oakville both at 4-2. When it was all said and done, the top two finishers would play in a league championship the next week, but with the possibility of more ties in the standings to come, the league moved the final Friday slate of games up to Wednesday, in case extra tiebreakers had to be played.
So working on just three days’ rest, Pe Ell faced Rainier, Quinault faced Napavine, and Oakville took on Adna.
The Trojans dispatched the Mountaineers 26-6, with Jan Stemkoski accounting for 123 rushing yards and 69 passing yards. Had Quinault lost, it would have given Pe Ell the top spot in the league, but they won 30-12, ending Napavine’s season at 5-4.
Those results locked Pe Ell and Quinault into the title game, rendering the Oakville/Adna game a moot point; the Acorns took that one 25-14 and ended their season at 5-4, while the Pirates finished 4-5.
The next Monday, PL and Quinault met up in Tumwater with the SWW 8-Man League title on the line, and after a scoreless first half, the Trojans exploded behind five second-half touchdowns from Rocky Elliot.
The first came from 2 yards out early in the third quarter, before Elliot caught a 10-yard touchdown from Stemkoski to make it 14-8 going to the fourth. In the final period, he added three more scores — two on the ground and one more receiving — to seal a 36-14 win.
Rivalry time
In the 11-man game, Week 9 saw teams take the field for five rivalries — three of which are no longer being played.
In the Hub City, the second matchup in what’s now known as the Swamp Cup had little stakes save pride, with Shelton already having wrapped up the Black Hills League title. But pride was plenty for Chehalis to play for, and the Bearcats got revenge for their loss earlier in the season, downing Centralia 13-7.
Both Bearcat touchdowns were sparked by the defense. In the first quarter, Mike Sturza recovered a fumble near midfield, setting Chehalis up with field position, and the offense rolled down the field to score on a 19-yard run by Rick Moore. The Bearcats missed the PAT, though, and when Centralia’s Tom Hartman plunged into the end zone a minute later on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line — and Mark Miller hit the extra point — the Tigers took a 7-6 lead into halftime.
The score stayed that way until the fourth quarter, when Mike Jacaway came away with an interception to give Chehalis the ball. Joe Blaser hit Gary Elder for a 44-yard pass to get the Bearcats most of the way, and Doug Hitchcock ran it in from 12 yards out to give the Chehalians the lead for good.
The result gave Chehalis a final record of 6-3 and a league record of 5-2, tying the Bearcats in second place with Camas. Centralia had one more game to play, but it was an exhibition; the Tigers settled for fourth in the league.
It was rivalry week in the South Central League, too. The game with the most stakes came at the Battle of the Cowlitz, where Winlock beat Toledo 36-14 to repeat as league champions, and did a bit of everything to do it. The Cardinals kicked off the scoring when Steve McGraw returned a punt 76 yards to the house, and continued on defense with a 21-yard Roy Lawrence pick six. Winlock’s first touchdown on offense came on a fake punt, when Mike Davis took a direct snap as the shield man and tossed the ball to Mark Billingsley for a 36-yard score.
Billingsley and Cliff Talley added touchdowns in the second quarter, and Davis put the cherry on top with a 15-yard touchdown in the fourth.
Onalaska met up with Mossyrock, and beat the Vikings 20-12 when Tony Briggs leapt over the top of the pile on a 1-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left. After the game, the Loggers received a new trophy: a helmet painted half red, half gold. The schools announced that the rivalry would be known as “The Battle of the Hat.” By the 21st century, the name had morphed into The Old Helmet Game.
Down Highway 12, Morton wrapped up its year with a 26-0 shutout of White Pass, in a battle of two schools destined to be together in the long run. Mike Herron went out with a bang, logging 166 total yards and all four of the Huskies’ touchdowns; he ended his season second in the state in scoring with 128 total points.
And up north, the game now known as the Scatter Creek Showdown went Rochester’s way, as the Warriors got their second win of the season with a 6-0 win over Tenino, which finished a tough 1973 season 0-9.
That Saturday, Boistfort made sure Tenino would be the only winless team in the area, beating Wishkah 62-26 for its first win since returning to the football realm.
Quotable
“It’s always great to beat Toledo, especially in Winlock.” — Winlock coach Dick Andrew
