Hornet football players on both sides of the county line will see their regular season come to a close Friday night when Enumclaw High and White River engage in the annual Battle of the Bridge.
This year’s version, which kicks off at 7 p.m., will be played at the Enumclaw Expo Center. The two schools alternate hosting duties.
Unlike the past couple of seasons, Friday’s game features two teams enjoying gridiron success. The squads took much different paths to their current place in the standings, however,
Enumclaw is no secret to prep football fans throughout the Evergreen State. The Hornets have become a major power, currently ranked No. 1 in the state’s Class 2A ranks. The team has built an 8-0 record this season, putting 339 points on the scoreboard, an average of better than 42 points per outing; by contrast, the EHS defense has allowed just 40 points across eight games, posting four shutouts along the way.
A year ago, Enumclaw won 12 straight games, including playoffs, losing only in the state title tilt. That makes 20 victories in their last 21 games for coach Mark Gunderson and his Hornet program.
It’s a different story in Buckley, where the White River crew is smiling a lot more these days.
The program’s recent history shows the last winning season came in 2018; a year ago, the team won its opener then suffered eight straight losses. And this year’s team, under new coach Wyatt Evenson, dropped its first three outings. But things have taken a definite turn for the better as the squad has posted victories in four of the past five weeks and enters the Battle of the Bridge with a break-even mark of 4-4.
Last week, both Enumclaw and White River played Thursday games that went in vastly different directions. White River’s 21-14 victory over Fife was in doubt until the final minute or two while Enumclaw demolished Clover Park 63-0. Here’s a brief account of each victory.
WHITE RIVER
The Hornets and Trojans showed opposing offensive philosophies, Fife preferring to pound the ball and stick to its running game while White River frequently went to the air for success. Holding a one-touchdown lead, the Hornets turned away one last Trojan effort to seal victory No. 4.
With the game tied at 14 apiece, White River took possession with 8:41 remaining and mounted a 13-play drive that took more than six minutes off the clock and found the Hornets celebrating their third and final touchdown. The drive saw quarterback Aaden Rathbun completing seven passes and was capped when he charged into the end zone with 2:12 remaining to be played.
Highlighting the drive was a fourth-down, 16-yard completion from Rathbun to Tate Bowen; and, three plays later, on a third-and-19 situation, Rathbun lofted the ball between a pair of defenders and into the hands of Kouri Lewis who landed on the 15-yard line.
That wasn’t the end of the drama, however. For the second time, Fife’s kick-return team did its job, taking the ball to White River’s 30. That’s where the Hornet defense stiffened and eventually forced the Trojans into a fourth-down incompletion. A couple of kneel-down plays later, White River was celebrating.
The Hornets had started with a bang, scoring a touchdown on their first possession of the night. Rathbun completed 10-of-12 passes as part of a 74-yard, 17-play drive that culminated with a short TD toss to Andrew Woods.
After the visitors took the lead, White River replied with a touchdown on the final play of the first half. Rathbun scrambled to his right to avoid defensive pressure and threw deep into the end zone where a leaping Tyler Roach came down with the ball.
ENUMCLAW
It was another night of zero drama for the powerful Enumclaw High squad, which took to the road to annihilate Clover Park on the turf of Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
EHS posted two touchdowns in the opening quarter and four more in the second to take a 42-0 lead into halftime.
During that opening half, quarterback Gunnar Trachte threw TD passes to Landon Brauer and Colton Paulson and took off on a 37-yard scoring jaunt. Adding to the scoring column, Tristan Donovan, Wyatt Neu and Seamus Twohey ran for touchdowns.
In the third quarter Paulson returned a fumble 20 yards for a TD and, in the final frame, Donovan and Cole Chiechi ran for scores. Riley Rutledge was perfect on all nine extra-point tries to cap the scoring.
Enumclaw’s offense was dominant on the ground, rushing for 235 yards. The Hornet defense limited Clover Park to just 84 yards of total offense.
