Comets and Mules run wild against defense for wins

One more game remains in the regular season for both Wahkiakum and Naselle. Entering their final contests, the Mules and Comets are riding momentum from wins in their penultimate matchups.

Naselle

After Taholah forfeited against Naselle last week, the Comets hosted Ocosta on senior night and honored their veteran players by going out and outscoring the Wildcats 40-0 in just the first half of the matchup.

Unfortunately for Head Coach Kevin McNulty and his group, a power outage cut the game short, and the Comets didn't get a chance to open up their rotation in the second half.

"It was fun for a half, but disappointing that the power went out and we only got to play half of a football game," McNulty said. "We had kids we wanted to get in that would have played the second half: our younger kids and some seniors getting more time since it was senior night. That was disappointing, but the good thing is that we'll have another game on our home field come the crossover playoffs."

The opponent will be decided after this week's games, but Naselle will face one of the teams from the north. McNulty and the Comets have been focused on getting kids healthy and getting them the meaningful reps they'll need for a deep playoff run. For Naselle, that means playing hard but making sure they respect their opponents.

The game against Ocosta wasn't ideal because of the weather. On a wet and windy evening, the Comets turned to the ground game to pummel the Wildcats' defense.

Leith Chadwick had five carries and two touchdowns, Gus Burkhalter punched in a rushing touchdown, and Eli Gardner also scored six on the ground. McNulty said the Comets only threw the ball three times, completing one, and Gunnar Gill nabbed the only catch, scoring a 44-yard touchdown. McNulty was happy with the way the team handled the weather on a night where it would have been more comfortable indoors.

"They did well," McNulty said. "It was a nasty night. Not only was it wet, it was windy. It was about as miserable a night as you're going to get. You've gotta get over that and play the game, and we were able to hang onto the football."

The Gardner brothers, Jason and Eli, along with Royce Hoff, led the way for the Comets on defense, containing Ocosta's running game and shutting down their offense.

There were still some mental errors and penalties the Comets gave up that McNulty still wants to fix, but one of the highlights was seeing how well his defense communicated during the game. The defense was able to read Ocosta's formations and call out the opposing offense's plays. It showed how far the team has come throughout the fall.

On a night celebrating the program's seniors, McNulty was proud to see how far players had come from when they started as eighth-graders to their time as seniors.

"It's been fun to watch them mature, and that's really what they've done," said McNulty. "They've matured as people. To see where they are now has been a bright spot in our program."

The Comets will finish up their regular season against Oakville this Friday, Oct. 31.

Wahkiakum

The Mules continue to march toward the postseason, flattening all who cross their path. The most recent victim was the Northwest Christian Wolverines, whom Wahkiakum bested 54-22. It was the final road game of the regular season for the Mules and marked their eighth win in eight games. Coming out of the game, Head Coach Ryan Lorenzo was pleased with the way his bunch played.

"[I'm] feeling good," he said. "Everybody came out healthy. We got some stuff to work on. Mainly over pursuit and tackling bigger ball carriers."

It was a wet and cold night on the gridiron, and the Mules went to the ground to do damage against the Wolverines. Wahkiakum ran the ball 21 times for 214 yards and three touchdowns, winning the battle in the trenches.

"We wanted to run the ball against a bigger team, and we were successful at that," said Lorenzo. "The weather didn't bother the boys much."

Senior quarterback Jayden Stoddard was all over the stat sheet, rushing for 108 yards while also tossing 167 yards for three touchdowns. Emory Filkowski continued his excellent run as receiver, hauling in three catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

As impressive as the offense was, it was the defense that jumped out to Lorenzo from the game. The Mules did a great job of bending but not breaking against a bigger team.

"Varsity defense only gave up one TD, then settled down and had a shutout the rest of the game," Lorenzo said.

Heading into the final regular-season game against Winlock this Friday, Lorenzo said the team is working to fine tune the run game so it can be a tool they rely on in the playoffs. As much as it is a dress rehearsal for the squad heading into the postseason, the matchup against the Cardinals will also celebrate the program's longest tenured players. Lorenzo hopes to showcase everything the team has worked on this season in front of the Mules' home crowd.

"This is the seniors' last home game, so we are taking the restrictions off the boys," Lorenzo said. "This is the last game before state, so we want to put everything together that we have been working on all year."