The Toledo football team held off a ferocious Pe Ell-Willapa Valley comeback on Friday, holding off the Titans for a 27-24 win.
The Riverhawks (5-1, 0-1 C2B South) jumped out to a 27-0 lead in the first half, highlighted by a 38-yard touchdown run from Bayron Rodriguez and a 53-yard pass from Eli Weeks to Ethen Carver.
“The first half we executed really well offensively and defensively,” Toledo coach Mike Christensen said.
In the second half, however, the Titans (4-2, 1-1 C2B North) came to life, recovering three fumbles and scoring 24 points off those turnovers, including a fourth-quarter scoop-and-score from Kannyon Clements.
The Riverhawks also committed several penalties in the second half, racking up 100 penalty yards while the Titans didn’t have a single infraction.
“I wish we could’ve played that well in the first half,” PWV coach Nate Smith said. “I give our kids credit. That second half, they came out and outplayed them. It was right there, we just gotta come out better in the first half.”
After forcing a punt late in the fourth quarter, the Titans had a chance to take the lead with the ball at midfield. Instead, the Riverhawk defense came up with one final stop to seal the win.
“Just kind of shot ourselves in the foot and just couldn’t get that next first down that we needed,” Smith said. “We had all the momentum going our way, and we just couldn’t take advantage of it.”
While the Riverhawks did struggle with ball security in the second half, they were still able to move the ball. On the day, they totalled 340 yards of offense, including 229 yards on the ground.
“We refocused on our blocking technique offensively,” Christensen said. “Our running backs hit the hole well this week for the most part, and we held onto the football — in the first half.”
Both teams return to league play next Friday, as Toledo will host Adna and the PWV will welcome Raymond.
