Woodland senior quarterback Wyatt Harsh launches a pass down the field against W.F. West during their 2A District crossover matchup last Friday evening at W.F. West High School.
Woodland junior wide receiver Alex Bishop celebrates a first half score against W.F. West.
One quarterback threw the ball 43 times for 312 yards. The other ran for a whopping 279 yards.
Football, though, is a curious sport, and Friday’s District 4 crossover game came down to a slim senior in neon-pink cleats, a pair of timeouts and a huge serving of drama.
A 26-yard field goal from senior Cory Davis of W.F. West in an untimed down at the end of regulation wrapped up a wild 38-35 win over Woodland, propelling W.F. West into the 2A state bracket for the fourth straight season.
Davis trotted onto the field with 5 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the back-and-forth contest tied at 35. Woodland called a timeout, set its defense again, and called a second timeout, in an attempt to ice the kicker on an already-frigid evening.
The first kick was short — but a roughing-the-passer flag
postponed overtime and moved the Bearcats 10 yards closer to the end zone.
The second kick was good.
The kick ended an impressive battle between teams, and quarterbacks, of opposing styles.
Woodland’s Wyatt Harsh, a four-year starter and All-Greater St. Helens 2A League pick at quarterback, completed 28 of 43 passes for 312 yards, with three touchdowns and four interceptions; he also led the Beavers with 38 rushing yards and a touchdown.
W.F. West’s Nole Wollan, meanwhile, ran the ball 36 times for 279 yards, with two scores on the ground and two more through the air.
The Bearcats, after jumping out to a 13-0 lead, found themselves playing catch-up throughout the second half.
The Bearcats intercepted passes to end Woodland’s first two drives, and sandwiched the picks around a 13-yard touchdown pass from Wollan.
Ka’imi Henry, who racked up 158 yards on 15 carries, broke free on a 55-yard run after an interception, putting W.F. West up 13-0.
The Beavers, though, settled into to their spread offense, and Harsh went to work. His first touchdown came on a 20-yard run, and after a Bearcat fumble, he hit Wyatt Wooden on a swing pass for a 12-yard touchdown that put the Beavers up 14-13.
Woodland — who finished in a tie for second in the GSHL, and got the No. 3 seed in a three-way tiebreaker Monday in Camas — pulled ahead 21-13 on a 38-yard halfback pass from Tyler Flanagan to Alex Bishop midway through the second quarter, but saw its next drive end on a diving interception.
Wollan broke free on his longest run of the night two plays into the third quarter, scoring on a 58-yard keeper and hitting Jordan Thomas with the conversion to tie the game at 21.
Harsh then capped a 63-yard scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Bishop that put the Beavers up 28-21; the Bearcats answered with a quick drive and a 2-yard keeper from Wollan, knotting it back up at 28.
Woodland pulled back ahead in the fourth, recovering a Bearcat fumble on the 8-yard line and scoring two plays later when Harsh found Christian Yager in the left side of the end zone from 6 yards out. The teams swapped turnovers — the third lost fumble of the game for W.F. West, and then Guerrero’s third pick — to set up the Cats’ last game-tying drive.
W.F. West drove downfield, only to have a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line overruled by a holding call, pushing the Cats back to the 15-yard line.
The flag didn’t matter. Wollan dropped back and hit Leandre Gaines over the top for a 15-yard touchdown, tying things up at 35 with three minutes to play.
The defense then came up with a stop, forcing a punt with just over a minute left to play, and 11-yard runs from Henry and then Wollan set the Bearcats up on the Beavers’ 20-yard line. Another run by Wollan moved the ball closer to the middle of the field with 5 seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Davis.
The loss ends the season for Woodland at 5-5. W.F. West (8-2) advances to the first round of the state 2A playoffs.
Woodland’s Wooden finished with a game-high eight catches for 146 yards.
Hockinson stays in stride
North County’s other 2A team in districts did not serve up as stressful of a game.
At home in Hockinson, the undefeated Hawks dispatched of the Aberdeen Bobcats 49-8. Aberdeen did not get on the board until the fourth quarter. The win secures a spot in the state playoffs for the Hawks.
Not surprisingly, senior quarterback Canon Racanelli put on another show with 333 yards through the air and six touchdowns. In usual fashion, Canon’s primary recipient was younger brother Sawyer Racanelli, who had 171 yards on eight receptions and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side, junior Jonathon Domingos recorded eight total tackles. Hockinson is set to play Pullman this Friday evening in the first round of the state tournament. (Exact time and location had not been determined as of The Reflector’s print deadline).
