The opening weekend of the prep football season delivered losses for the Plateau’s two teams. Friday night, White River High fell 20-6 to the visiting Fife Trojans; the following afternoon, Enumclaw traveled to Steilacoom and returned home on the short end of a 14-7 score.
WHITE RIVER
The Hornets, under the direction of head coach Ken Pirone and his staff, simply couldn’t get anything rolling on the offensive side of the ball. That was particularly true during the first half, when White River miscues handed the Trojans some easy scoring opportunities.
Despite being put in precarious situations, White River’s defense looked stout at times and held the visitors to 12 points during the first half. Sparking the effort were Sol Webber and Jay Selander. Webber was in on 10 tackles, six of those being solo efforts, and Selander added nine tackles, seven solo. Tyson Campbell was credited with six solo tackles, nine total.
After trailing 12-0 at intermission, White River sliced the margin in the third quarter when Selander crashed into the end zone from four yards out. He finished the night with 14 carries, good for 56 yards.
Adding to the stat sheet was Payne Plaster, who had an exciting 18-yard run and caught one pass, good for another 18 yards. Josh Poulin carried twice and gained five yards.
The quarterbacking duties were shared by Cooper Reeves, who started, and Yaz Metzenberg, who played the second half. Metzenberg had the team’s only pass completion of the night and carried the ball four times for 17 yards.
White River will be on its home turf against this week, hosting Steilacoom at 7 p.m. at Arrow Lumber Stadium. The Sentinels advanced to the state Class 2A championship game a season ago and opened this campaign with a victory over Enumclaw.
ENUMCLAW
The Enumclaw High crew had the unenviable assignment of kicking off the season against a Steilacoom squad that won the South Puget Sound League 2A title last season and is the favorite to repeat that performance.
The Hornets kept it close and made things less than comfortable for the highly-touted Sentinels, a squad boasting several players who have already secured their football futures with collegiate programs.
The afternoon contest was marked by tough defense on both sides, with each team forcing turnovers and holding the others’ offense in check on fourth-down attempts. Enumclaw’s Drew Kuzaro had a fumble recovery and an interception to snuff out Sentinel drives.
Steilacoom took the lead midway through the second quarter with a touchdown toss, but the Hornets answered with a TD of their own. Royal Snider rumbled across the goal line from four years out to register the Hornets’ lone score.
The Sentinels’ game-winner came on the opening drive of the second half, when quarterback Chance McDonald launched a 28-year scoring strike.
The Hornets will be looking to break into the win column at 7 p.m. Friday when they travel to Orting to challenge the Cardinals. Orting has had a rather rocky start to the season: the Cards got an early start and have played two games, being outscored in the process 82-0. That included a season-opening 48-0 loss to Clover Park, followed by a 34-0 nonleague defeat at the hands of Cedar Park Christian School.
