By Aaron Coe
Herald Writer
DARRINGTON – It’s all downhill from here.
If the Darrington football team can find a way to beat No. 1 Willapa Valley on Saturday, the Loggers could find themselves on the inside track to the Class B-11 state championship.
And they believe they can.
“I do not think they need that ranking,” said Darrington running back Ronnie McCoy, who has rushed for nearly 1,000 yards this season. “They have not played anyone. They have not played smash-mouth football like us. We are going to earn our ranking.”
Willapa Valley (11-0) has walked its way through an undefeated season, including a 46-0 smashing of a 3-6 Morton team in a qualifying game last week.
Big deal, say the Loggers.
“They’ve been wiping out teams that other teams have been wiping out, too,” Darrington wingback Jordan Padgett said. “We’ve been playing all (Class) A teams. We’ve played some tough teams in the fourth quarter, and they haven’t played in the fourth quarter all year.”
The 8-1 Loggers were a team without a league this season. After playing Class A football for two years, Darrington dropped down to B-11 this season. Because there are no football-playing B schools anywhere near Darrington, the Loggers played a schedule of mostly Class A varsity and Class 4A junior varsity teams. The one loss was to 10-0 Orcas Island, a team that has a strong chance to win the Class A title. The 14-0 loss came in Week 2. Since then, Darrington has won seven straight games by a combined score of 239-85.
The strange thing is that none of the games meant a whole lot until three weeks ago. Darrington had to earn its state playoff spot by beating Neah Bay – another independent – twice. The Loggers left Darrington at 5 a.m. on Oct. 27 to travel to Neah Bay, where they won 38-18. A week later, they let Neah Bay ride the ferries and buses and hammered it 52-12.
Darrington qualified for Saturday’s game by winning at Mossyrock, 22-20, when Mossyrock’s 2-point conversion was wiped out because of a penalty. The Loggers also made a defensive stand in the waning moments.
Things would appear to get much easier should Darrington emerge Saturday. The Loggers would play either Ritzville (9-2) or Wahkiakum (9-2) in the semifinals. Both teams have much less lofty credentials than Willapa Valley.
“It gets easier from here,” Darrington coach Rob Wales said.
To win Saturday, the Loggers must find a way to stop the outside speed of Willapa Valley, which also possesses a solid passing attack.
The Loggers will deploy an offensive line that averages 210 pounds against a smaller but quicker Willapa Valley team. Darrington uses a double-wing offense that features running backs D.J. Cochran, McCoy and Padgett. Quarterback Matt Reece can throw when needed, as evidenced by his 5-for-9, 96-yard performance against Mossyrock.
Kevin Jones, who was an all-league player at both offensive and defensive tackle last year when the Loggers had a league, and junior middle linebacker Jeremy Cabe anchor a defense that has been strong all season.
“We’ve got to stop the outside run,” Jones said. “We should be able to run the ball on them.”
The Loggers believe if they can keep it close, they will own the fourth quarter. Close victories over Mossyrock, Concrete (28-24) and Life Christian Academy (21-20), required late defensive stands. The defense was solid against Orcas, especially in a scoreless second half.
McCoy said it will not be easy, but predicted that Darrington will be playing in the Tacoma Dome next weekend and in the Dec. 1 state championship game.
“It’s going to be a battle,” McCoy said. “Our tanks are going to be empty when it’s over. We know we can beat Willapa. We are going to the Tacoma Dome.”
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