Friday night lights: Hockinson and Woodland gear up for season

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Hockinson Hawks

Head coach: Clint LeCount

Classification: 2A

League: Greater St. Helens League

2021 season stats: 7-3

The Hockinson Hawks started their season winning their first game against La Center and later fell to  Evergreen on Sept. 9.

Coach Clint LeCount hopes to keep the team on a steady winning streak from here on out.

“Obviously we’ve had our ups and downs and we haven’t played the best football in the world, but we’re improving every day and that’s all you can ask for,” LeCount said last week. “We got a big game against Ridgefield on Friday, so we’ve really gotta focus up this week and practice. I think we started off the week pretty well, so I’m happy where we’re at.”

Last year, the Hawks were second in the league but lost in the playoffs. 

“We got a really excited and passionate freshmen crew, so that’s always nice to see. They’re really excited to play football,” he said. “We got a bunch of kids that are getting more physical every day, which is a part of football, so that’s always good. The senior class has really taken to a leadership role and really taken this team on their backs and done everything they can to produce a good product that we can put out on the field and they’re having fun doing it.”

He said the team expects to be “in a position to win a league championship” every year. Last year, Ridgefield came away with that win. 

“That has been on our schedule for the last 364 days. We’re looking forward to this Friday to get another shot at Ridgefield,” LeCount said last week. “(If) we win that game (on Sept. 16), really we’re in the driver’s seat, and destiny is in our own hands and that’s where we want it to be.”

Woodland Beavers



Head coach: Sean McDonald

Classification: 2A

League: Greater St. Helens League

2021 season stats: 2-7

Early on in the season, the Woodland Beavers sat at a 1-1 record after they notched a 22-0 win against Kalama and lost a game against La Center, 21-6. 

Head Coach Sean McDonald hopes to propel the team to more wins as the season continues. 

“(It’s) pretty good,” McDonald said. “We had a good week one, we battled in week two. A couple things took us out of it a little bit, but I think we were in that game until the fourth quarter. La Center is a good team and I was proud of how we battled.”

He said Woodland was ahead in the first half of the La Center game, but then La Center scored in the third quarter to bring it to a tie. The Wildcats were able to pull off a 21-6 win against the Woodland Beavers. 

McDonald is happy with Woodland’s team this year. 

“(The players) bought into the program, they’ve been hitting the weights hard. We still got some little things to fix. For installing a brand new offense and defense, I couldn’t be anymore happy,” McDonald said. “The kids’ attitude is great. We just got to continue to get better each week, and I think by week four or five, we’re really going to be clicking on another level and be ready to go.”

This season, he also hopes to get the team into the league championship.

“From here on out, our goal is to win each week, and our goal right now is to beat Washougal this week,” McDonald said last week. “I think it’s doable. We just got to play our game and limit the penalties and limit the mistakes.”

The game against Washougal took place on Friday, Sept. 16.