T.J. Villanueva busted off touchdown runs of 48 and 43 yards and Mossyrock cruised past Northwest Christian (Lacey) 58-30 in the Vikings’ regular-season finale Thursday night in Tenino.
Mossyrock (4-1) has now won four straight games after losing to undefeated Naselle (4-0) in the season opener. These aren’t the same Vikings four weeks later.
The score against NWC wasn’t indicative of how easily Mossyrock blasted through NWC Thursday, as the Vikings reeled off 24 straight points to start the game, taking a 32-8 lead after the first quarter and scoring all their points by the half to go into the locker room with a 58-8 lead.
Villanueva started the scoring off with a 48-yard touchdown run, followed by Sage Griesen’s 38-yard scoop and score off an NWC fumble. Villanueva followed that up with a 43-yard touchdown run before NWC finally got on the scoreboard with a kickoff return for a TD to make it 24-8 Mossyrock.
Keegan Kolb outran NWC defenders for a 46-yard TD run to end the first quarter, then quarterback Aiden Weist punched it in from five yards out to make it 38-8 in the second quarter.
Mateo Mendoza found paydirt on a 33-yard run later in the second quarter, followed by Zack Nunoz’ 6-yard touchdown run to make it 50-8 for the Vikings. Tevita Stajduhar closed out Mossyrock’s scoring with an 11-yard TD run to put the score at 58-8.
Then NWC went to work in garbage time, returning a fumble 85 yards for a score, throwing a 70-yard touchdown pass and finally punching another one in from five yards out to end the game at 58-30 Mossyrock. Brandon Cornelius led the Vikings with 95 yards on just five carries.
The Vikings have one final game and one final shot at beating Naselle when they travel to south Pacific County to face the Comets for the league championship. Naselle shutout Mossy 48-0 in the season opener on Feb. 16.
“We’re feeling good,” Mossyrock coach Eric Ollikainen said. “We’re getting better every week and hitting our stride. I’m disappointed it’s over so quickly... I’m excited to see how (the Naselle) game goes.”
Kickoff starts at 6 p.m., Thursday, in Naselle.
