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NAPAVINE — It was screamed from the first quarter to the final frame. Napavine High School head football coach Josh Fay was losing his voice and getting red in the face.
He was praying to his defense to “make a play.” For how often he stated those three words, it drew similarities to a broken record.
“That shows how much he cares,” junior quarterback Dean Hamilton said. “He does it because he loves us. He wants to see us succeed and that’s very important to us.”
Someone eventually stepped up. And it happened to be one of the seniors playing his final game at home.
Masen Jeg was in the right place at the right time for the game-ending interception that allowed eighth-seeded Napavine to stave off ninth-seeded Northwest Christian 34-28 in the Round of 16 of the Class 2B state tournament on Saturday afternoon.
“I felt like there was a lot of pressure and it was a good play, set up nicely by the rest of my teammates,” Jeg said. “We ate the pressure, we like that. It meant a lot. I didn’t want it to end right there.”
The District 4 killers of the Crusaders – ending state tournament runs in girls basketball and volleyball this calendar year – nearly came away with a comeback win in football. They rallied down three scores to tie the game at 28 thanks to a dink-and-dunk passing game.
Even with a boatload of sophomores and juniors on the field, two classes that haven’t had a lot of exposure to the playoffs, the Tigers (7–4) didn’t panic.
Now, their reward is a quarterfinal date with fellow C2BL foe and top-seeded Toledo (10-0) on Saturday night in Kelso.
“Those plays, for whatever reason, we haven’t made,” Fay said. “In that situation, it was the biggest play in our world.”
It has not been a cakewalk season for Napavine. It dealt with a four-game losing streak and had to completely change its offense with the loss of Grady Wilson. Still, it figured out a successful formula to reel off six straight wins.
The ingredients called for gallons of Caleb Von Pressentin with cups of Pono Moniz-Taitague, Kayden Simper and Hamilton.
“There is no shortage of coaching around here; everybody is working their tail off,” Fay said. “We’re getting better every week in that offense. Kudos to these young guys for getting to the next round, setting up a local showdown.”
On the two most important drives of the season to date, Von Pressentin cramped up and wasn’t on the field. Who was? Wilson.
All the senior did was hand off to Hamilton and Moniz-Taitague in the red zone, eventually seeing Hamilton score on a 3-yard plunge with 4 minutes, 29 seconds left in regulation. And Wilson was also the deep safety on Jeg’s interception.
Both Hamilton and Jeg used the word “calm” when describing Wilson’s presence on the field.
“He’s super smart and knows the game really well,” Jeg added.
Both teams scored their opening touchdowns 17 seconds apart. Von Pressentin rushed for a 9-yard score for Napavine, then NWC quarterback Mason Gassaway tossed a short pass to Hudson Somes, who tip-toed down the sideline for an 80-yard TD.
Hamilton regained the Tigers lead with a 2-yard plunge before Von Pressentin dashed 87 and 27 yards, respectively. Von Pressentin 271 yards on 23 carries while Hamilton chipped in 71 yards on 16 touches.
“We have never played this style of Napavine football and it has been very rewarding to see this offense start to work and march down the field,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been fighting this whole season. We found a way to win.”
Despite allowing 289 passing yards, the Tigers didn’t let up the go-ahead score. And they get to play the underdog role next week versus the Riverhawks.
Which they feel may end up being exactly what they need.
“I’m super confident,” Jeg said. “A lot of the athletes, even the school, we’re going to get so much support from the underdog perspective. Look at where we are now.”
