The Toledo football team gave Mike Christensen the bounceback performance he was looking for, rolling to a 46-28 win at Rainier on Friday.
“I really challenged the guys last week, and they stepped up better than I could have expected,” Christensen said.
The Riverhawks ran for 323 yards on the ground, and there was little the Mountaineers could do to stop them early. After putting up two touchdowns in the first quarter, Toledo exploded for 32 points in the second, going into halftime up 46-22.
“We were moving the ball really well,” Christensen said. “Really the first half, everything was clicking. To score 46 points in a half is pretty impressive.”
Junior Ethen Carver led the way for the Riverhawks, scoring two touchdowns and finishing with 173 yards on 12 carries.
“Last week was his first varsity game, and he had three fumbles on like six carries,” Christensen said. “But we knew that he’s got big-play potential, he’s a really good running back, so we stuck with him. He got those first-game jitters out of the way, and he was a stud tonight. I was really impressed with him.”
Senior quarterback Austin Norris went for 77 yards on 13 rushes, and Geoffrey Glass added 121 total yards — 57 rushing and 64 receiving.
Between cramps and ejections, the Riverhawks found themselves down most of their backfield, and had to slow things down in the second half, focusing on running the clock out.
Quarterback Jake Meldrum went 12-for-24 through the air for Rainier with a touchdown., and added a 25-yard score on the ground. Christopher Gray had 62 rushing yards and 61 receiving yards — both team highs — and Trevor Anderson rushed in a pair of touchdowns.
Toledo (1-1) is set to host Toutle Lake next week, while Rainier will get Napavine.
