MARYSVILLE — Austin Joyner expected the entire town of Marysville to be at Quil Ceda Stadium Friday night.
He wanted to make sure to put on a good show.
The Tomahawk running back carried the ball 13 times for 188 yards and found the end zone five times for Marysville Pilchuck, which defeated crosstown rival Marysville Getchell 43-13 in the second annual Berry Bowl Friday night.
“It’s the hometown game,” Joyner said. “We knew everyone’s eyes were going to be on us. Pretty sure everyone in Marysville was coming.”
In a fact that should scare Pilchuck’s future opponents, Joyner admitted after the game that he’s not at 100 percent. He hyperextended his knee in the Tomahawks’ first game of the year and he doesn’t think that’s fully healed. On top of that, he has an ankle that’s “sprained or something.”
But it didn’t seem to slow down No. 5, who made sure The Flat, the new Berry Bowl trophy, would go to Pilchuck.
“Playing Getchell every year is my favorite game,” Joyner said. “You know guys on the other team.”
Joyner almost had another touchdown added to his total, a 65-yard burst on the first play of the game, but a Pilchuck holding penalty brought the ball back. Three plays later the Tomahawks punted.
“He is like he is every game, outstanding,” Tomahawks’ head coach Brandon Carson of Joyner said. “He’s huge for us. He’s so explosive.”
About the only thing that didn’t go Pilchuck’s way on Friday was penalties. The Tomahawks had several big plays — including Joyner’s first run of the game — called back and extended Getchell’s first scoring drive on three occasions due to penalties on the defense.
“We had to overcome a lot of penalties tonight,” Carson said. “That’s very uncharacteristic of how we’ve played this year. Outside of penalties, we played very well.”
Thanks to Joyner’s touchdown runs of 20, 7 and 29 yards in the first half, Pilchuck took a 22-6 lead going into halftime. The Chargers were able to get some points on the board midway through the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Wil Owens, who also intercepted Tomahawks’ quarterback Jake Luton right before the end of the half.
“I made a dumb play, he made a good play,” Luton said of the interception.
Joyner picked up right where he left off in the second half, with two touchdown runs in the third quarter, including a 42-yard run that put the Tomahawks (1-0 league, 5-0 overall) up 36-6 late in the third quarter.
Killian Page scored Pilchuck’s only other touchdown, on a 37-yard run late in the fourth quarter to all but put the game away.
Page finished the game with 18 carries for 143 yards.
Getchell (0-2, 2-3) added a touchdown run by Jordan Russell-Robinson late in the fourth quarter, but missed out on a couple other opportunities to score. The Chargers had some penalty trouble themselves when a 75-yard screen pass from Taylor Koellmer (17-for-29 for 188 yards and an interception) to Kaleb Seymer that resulted in a touchdown was called back because of a block in the back by Getchell.
The Chargers also had a chance to put a few more points on the board in the final minute of the game, but fumbled the ball on the Pilchuck one-yard line. The Tomahawks recovered, ran one play and then took a knee to end the game.
Both scores still wouldn’t have been enough to overtake Pilchuck, which backed up its No. 3 ranking in the most recent Associated Press 3A poll.
“It was a pretty sloppy game, but we overcame it,” Luton said. “We just fight. That’s the biggest thing. … This game’s just a little bit bigger. It’s good to be the top dog in town.”
Along with being a big rivalry game, it was also the first Wesco 3A league game for the Tomahawks, who wanted to make sure to get off to a fast start in conference play. Joyner said it was big for Pilchuck to get the win, and continue its journey to where the Tomahawks ultimately want to be.
The state tournament.
“It’s a good way to start out,” Joyner said. “It’s all about the road to the (Tacoma) Dome. It’s what we’re shooting for. It’s what everyone’s shooting for.”
At Quil Ceda Stadium
Marysville Pilchuck157147—43
Marysville Getchell0607—0
MP–Austin Joyner 20 run (Hunter Trueax pass from Jake Luton)
MP–Joyner 7 run (Ryan Spiva kick)
MG–Wil Owens 2 run (kick failed)
MP–Joyner 29 run (Spiva kick)
MP–Joyner 6 run (Spiva kick)
MP–Joyner 42 run (Spiva kick)
MG–Jordan Russell-Robinson 10 run (Eli Angulo kick)
MP–Killian Page 37 run (Spiva kick)
Records–Marysville Pilchuck 1-0 league, 5-0 overall. Marysville Getchell 0-2, 2-3.
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