Awful weather and tough Rainier team made for hard times for Ilwaco football team

ILWACO – Rainier rambled for 216 yards on the ground and held Ilwaco to just 60, in handing the Fishermen a 20-0 defeat in Southwest Washington League football action at rain-swept Pederson Field Friday night. The visitors scored in each of the first three periods and held Ilwaco to no first downs in the second half on the way to evening both teams’ records at 1-1.

The Mounties backfield tandem of Tyson Webb and Eloy Perez ran for 94 yards apiece against the Fishermen defense and wasted no time in making their presence known in the first 2:42 of the game. Perez started the game with a 19-yard gain on a sweep when Ilwaco’s defenders got sucked inside. Webb then ripped off a 13-yard gain on another sweep, and three plays later went for a 14-yard touchdown dash. Quarterback Kyle Sands scooted in for the 2-point conversion to give Rainier an 8-0 lead.

Eddie Knick took the ensuing kickoff 43 yards up the right side line to Rainier’s 43. The Fishermen ran eight plays, good for 32 yards and a pair of first downs. On fourth-and-two, Ilwaco was stopped at the 11-yard line, the closest they would get to pay dirt all night.

In the second quarter, the two squads traded fumbles, with Peter Gaynor grabbing a loose ball for Ilwaco. The Fishermen put together their best drive of the contest, making six first downs over the next nine minutes. A “roughing the kicker” penalty as Gaynor punted gave Ilwaco one first down, and a 29-yard screen pass from Nick Leonard to tight end Joe Goelz was the other big play during the drive.

“The screen finally worked,” Goelz said. “We tried it twice last week and couldn’t connect.”

With 2:02 remaining in the half, Alex Martin carried half the Mounties line for 4 yards and a first down on their 30. Three consecutive incomplete pass attempts kept the Fishermen off the scoreboard.

Almost immediately after, Webb picked up 18 yards on a sweep. Sands completed his only two passes of the game in the drive, but they were critical in Rainier’s second TD. Webb grabbed one for 27 yards and a wide-open Jeremy Lynch caught the other for a 17-yard score with 15 seconds remaining before halftime. The Fishermen stuffed the PAT run to make the score 14-0 at intermission.

Ilwaco recovered an on-side kick at midfield to begin the third period. Martin gained four of his 36 yards on first down, but was then stopped for no gain. Leonard found Schaak for five more on a side-line pass, and the Fishermen elected to punt on fourth down.

Rainier ran eight times for 77 yards during the next four minutes with the big play being Perez’s 33-yard jaunt around right end for their third trip to the end zone. The PAT pass was incomplete and the score stood 20-0 with just over 18 minutes remaining in the fray.

Ilwaco was never able to gain field position in that time. The two teams traded possession nine times, and the Fishermen got the ball on the Rainier 6-, 20-, 7-, 24-, and 9-yard lines – they also lost a fumble along the way.

Several defenders had their numbers called for tackles as the Fishermen were able to keep Rainier from scoring in the late going. David Caudle, Ubaldo Sebastian, David Casper, Markus Peterson and Ivan Padilla all chipped in with key tackles or pass deflections. Gaynor got off punts of 42-, 45-, and 43-yards to show marked improvement in that department.

Casper said after the game, “We played our hearts out and I played above normal.”

The offensive line of Jeff Nesbitt, Bobby Crislip, R.J. Jamison, Nick Wilson-Codega and Mike Patterson blocked well, especially in the first half. Fullback Mooch Smith added 21 yards. Ilwaco QB Leonard was sacked four times and lost 24 yards.

Smith challenged his teammates by saying, “We all need to get in better shape and work harder.”

Tarabochia and Marroquin led the Fishermen in tackles with eight each.

A disappointed coach Ned Bittner told his squad afterward, “We need to get better. We need to push ourselves, and we need to stick together as a team.

“We didn’t react like we could have tonight,” he lamented. “It may be that we are relatively inexperienced, but we didn’t always play as smart as we should have on defense.”

The Fishermen travel to Westport to play Ocosta next Friday. The Wildcats played Napavine tough, losing 14-0 Friday and running their record to 1-1.

Scoring:

First quarter:

Rainier – 9:18 Webb 14 run (Sands run)

Second quarter:

Rainier – :15 Sands 17 pass to Lynch (run failed)

Third quarter:

Rainier – 6:10 Perez 33 run (pass failed)