It took getting punched in the mouth early to wake up the Toledo High School football team and rally down from 16 points to remain perfect and triumph past Pe Ell/Willapa Valley 48-29 on Friday night in Menlo.
Split end Adam Kruger put together a performance to remember with seven grabs for 187 yards and three touchdowns, his first three scores while playing varsity. Toledo (3-0) quarterback Eli Weeks found the speedster for passes of 35 and 33 yards for scores in the second half.
“That’s a pretty good matchup for us,” Riverhawks head coach Mike Christensen said. “We knew he had it in him; he has such good hands.”
PWV used a pair of Blaine King TD receptions to lead by 10 after the opening frame. It struggled to piece together scoring drives in the final two stanzas. The Titans (2-1) were held to just a 5-yard score from tailback Cody Strozyk in the fourth quarter.
“We played them tough for two-and-a-half quarters,” PWV head coach Nate Smith said. “We had a game plan and they did exactly what we were supposed to do. We’re pretty close to where we want to be.”
Toledo’s Carter Swofford bulldozed his way to 137 yards and a score on 17 carries. Weeks ended with his near weekly 250-plus offensive yards. The Riverhawks will now turn their attention to the start of C2BL South divisional play by facing Toutle Lake next Friday.
“We have shown those flaws and we have improved them every week,” Christensen stated. “Now, it is time to put it all together.”
PWV will take on Lake Roosevelt in another non-league contest.
