ONALASKA — In the moments after Onalaska’s game against Napavine, there was a prevailing thought among coach Mazen Saade and his players.
“There’s a hell of a lot of room for growth,” Saade said.
If this version of the Loggers has room to improve?
Watch out, Class 2B.
The Loggers ran wild again on Friday night, topping the 600-yard mark for the second week in a row while doubling up Napavine in a 56-28 victory.
“I thought they played their butts off tonight,” Saade said. “And that’s a really good football team that we played … (The Tigers) are the bar in the 2Bs in the state of Washington. To come out and execute against a team like that is really good.”
Ethan Thayer topped the 300-yard mark for the second week in a row, bulldozing his way to 356 yards and a whopping six touchdowns on 34 carries.
He now sits at 654 rushing yards through two games.
“Our line did great, and I think we have a lot of guys that can run the ball,” Thayer said. “We run the ball really well and are just diverse with the different plays we can do.”
Thayer opened the scoring with a one-yard plunge on Onalaska’s (2-0) first drive of the game, and Lane Gordon hit Morgan Allen for a six-yard score on a fourth and goal the following drive.
On the Napavine (1-1) sideline, Napavine coach Josh Fay and his staff recognized and called out some of the plays that the Loggers were running before the snap, but they weren’t able to consistently stop them.
“I don’t think it’s a secret what they were doing,” Fay said. “I think we were as prepared as we could be. I think our execution wasn’t great, and then when you’ve got a team (like Onalaska) that executes what they do really well, then it gets hard … Give Onalaska all the credit in the world.”
Napavine responded with its first points on a 48-yard touchdown run from Carter Edmonds, and Beckett Landram tied the game with a 37-yard touchdown run just three plays after the Loggers failed a fake punt on a fourth and four in their own territory.
The special teams gaffe was quickly forgotten just moments later, though, when back-to-back special teams plays gave the momentum right back to Onalaska.
Brodey Triana returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, and seconds later on the following kickoff, Haze Hamrick pounced on a fumble to give the Loggers the ball again.
Triana noted that on his touchdown run, it was Hamrick’s block that allowed him to spring free.
“(Napavine) sent a message to us, and we were gonna send one back,” Triana said. “Once I saw that opening behind Haze, I was off to the races. And then when he recovered the fumble, I knew that was a big turning point for us and that it was our game.”
Onalaska took advantage of the extra possession, as Thayer punched in another touchdown to make it 28-14.
Thayer broke free for another touchdown before the break, putting Napavine down three scores heading into the break.
“We definitely had some momentum, and we were unable to capitalize,” Fay said. “Those two (special teams) plays were big, but at the end of the day, we gotta execute defensively a lot better than we did.”
Napavine was able to score twice in the second half on touchdowns from Brody Mitchell and Edmonds, but Onalaska answered both of those scores with touchdowns of its own.
Thayer broke free for his sixth and final touchdown of the night midway through the fourth, putting Onalaska at 56 points and eight total touchdowns for the second week in a row.
“Ethan ran his ass off. He really did,” Saade said. “I’m proud of him.”
In addition to Thayer’s big night, Gordon finished with 143 total yards and his passing touchdown.
“I thought Lane Gordon did a hell of a job tonight commanding our offense,” Saade said.
Carson Albertson also had a solid night on the ground, tallying 87 yards on 13 carries.
Landram led the Tigers offense with 138 total yards and a touchdown, and Edmonds finished 114 total yards and two rushing touchdowns.
While Fay acknowledged that his group’s execution on the defensive side of the ball wasn’t up to par, he’s confident that they’ll be able to make the necessary adjustments moving forward.
Napavine’s first chance to bounce back will come next Friday, Sept. 18 in Kalama.
“We just need to clean some stuff up,” Fay said. “We’ve got at least eight weeks ahead of us. We’re gonna prepare better, do a better job next week, and get ready for Kalama.”
Onalaska will have another tough non-league test at home on the same night, when they host Adna. The Loggers and Pirates already have a common opponent, as they both have beaten Seton Catholic, and the Pirates also topped Toledo in Week 1.
“That’s gonna be a dogfight,” Triana said. “It’s gonna come out to the will. Who’s gonna want it more?”
As for what the six days in between matchups will look like?
“We’ve got a lot to improve on,” Thayer said with a smile. “And that’s exciting.”
