Napavine quarterback Ashton Demarest made full use of the arsenal at his disposal Friday night at home, spreading the ball around in a 60-14 win over Pe Ell-Willapa Valley.
Four different Tigers logged receiving touchdowns for the Tigers (4-0), while Demarest finished his evening an efficient 10 for 14 for 247 yards and five scores.
“That was something we knew coming into the year, and we haven’t probably been as successful there as we would have liked,” Napavine coach Josh Fay said. “But tonight, that was huge for us.”
Karsen Denault led the receiving corps with four catches for 115 yards. He caught Demarest’s first two touchdown passes on a 46-yard play in the first quarter and a 41-yard score in the second.
Cayle Kelly, James Grose, and Colin Shields also got in on the aerial fun.
Blake Howard dove in for a short rushing touchdown early in the first quarter for the Titans (3-1) to cut Napavine’s lead to 14-6, but from there, it was all Tigers until the halftime horn.
“Napavine is a buzzsaw,” PWV coach Nate Smith said. “I thought we had them going into the half. We were getting the ball, it was 20-6 and then I look up and all of a sudden it was 36-6 before half.”
Cael Stanley added two touchdowns for the Tigers, finishing with 87 yards on 10 carries. Demarest added 52 yards on the ground to his line, and found the end zone on a 24-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
Howard led the Titans with 54 rushing yards, Cody Strozyk had 47 and Tyson Portman finished with a touchdown and 38 yards.
PWV will head back home and host Morton-White Pass in its league opener next Friday, no longer among the ranks of the undefeateds but not too disappointed in its effort against the defending state champs.
“We sustained a couple good drives,” Smith said. “We’re not a quick-score team. I didn’t think it was that bad, overall played well, flew around to the ball, but we have plenty to work on. It’s hard to do anything when you’re playing a team of that caliber. I tip my hat to them.”
Napavine, meanwhile, will get its toughest non-league test in a long time when it buses up to the border to take on 1A power Lynden Christian.
“When we created our schedule, we were looking for games that were gonna help prepare us for the playoffs,” Fay said. “If you circle one in our first 10 weeks, it’s a pretty doggone good opponent.”
