The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The 2016 Wahkiakum Mule football season came to an end with a 36-6 loss to the Pe Ell/Willapa Valley Titans last Friday.

The win gave the Titans a berth in the state Class 2B playoffs; they'll travel to Sedro Wooley next Saturday to take on the LaConner Braves.

The Mules' season may have ended with a loss, but their coaches are proud of the team's effort. When junior Terris Record left the game for neck injury analysis, the Mule line up featured two seniors, eight freshmen and sophomores, and one eighth grader standing up to a team of larger, upper classmen players.

"Mistakes hurt us and we got down early," said Mule head coach Eric Hansen. "The kids battled back in the second half. They didn't let up. We mounted a 20-play scoring drive by just pounding it in there.

"I'm really proud of these kids. They're already working hard in the weight room. In a couple years, look out."

A turnover and pass interception set up two of the Titans' three scores in the first half; they led 22-0 at halftime. A 61-yard pass play made it 28-0 in the third quarter.

The Mules then put together their scoring drive, with sophomore quarterback Lucas Brown driving over from one yard out of the endzone with 8:28 left in the game, making the score 28-6.

The Titans scored on a 69-yard run at 6:48 to make the final 36-6 score.

Overall, the Mules gained 94 yards on the ground and 136 in the air for 230 total yards. The Titans had 183 yards rushing and 73 yards passing for 256 total yards, with 130 yards on just two plays.

Senior Hank Ferguson led the Mule running attack with 59 yards. Record had 21 and James Anderson, a sophomore, 16. Brown completed 11 of 15 passes, with one interception for 136 yards. Sophomore Evan Quigley caught three passes for 57 yards; eighth grader Jason Hodges had two for 19 yards; Anderson caught two for 21 yards; Ferguson one catch for nine yards and Record one for 29 yards.

Leading defenders were Brown with 10 tackles, Record eight, Dylan Ahmed (the team's other senior) and Tristan Collupy (an eighth grader) with six each; Anderson, Ferguson and junior Casey Wilson each had five, and Quigley and eighth grader Gage Horman four each.

The team ended the season with a 5-5 record.