After trouncing one highly-regarded foe last week, the White River Hornets are rewarded with facing a second esteemed opponent Friday night.
The Hornets improved their season record to an impressive 4-1 with a 28-16 victory at Fife. Last week’s win improved the team’s record to 3-0 in South Puget Sound League 2A play, good for a top-of-the-heap tie with the Sumner Spartans, a crew ranked No. 3 in the statewide 2A polls.
Winners of four straight – following a season-opening, nonleague loss to cross-river rival Enumclaw – the White River Hornets now host a Franklin Pierce squad that has won two of three SPSL 2A clashes. The Cardinals have beaten Orting and Steilacoom, losing only to Sumner.
The Hornets followed a familiar pattern to win Friday’s battle on the natural grass at Fife High – namely, handing off to running back Keenan Fagan. He toted the ball 24 times for 210 yards, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt, and scored two touchdowns in the process.
The ground-happy Hornets ran the ball 49 times Friday night, meaning quarterback Sean Hayes had to put up just 11 pass attempts. He completed only five, but made the most of his opportunities, throwing for a pair of touchdowns.
Fagan’s big night pushed his season totals to 664 yards and eight TDs in five games
White River wasted little time, scoring on its first possession when Hayes connected with Garrett Quiles. A two-point conversion gave the Hornets an 8-0 lead with 3:52 remaining in the opening quarter.
Fife quickly bounced back for an equalizing TD, getting a bit of a break when the ball was fumbled into the end zone. An alert Trojan pounced on the loose ball to give the home team the only score it would enjoy until the game’s final moments.
White River added two touchdowns in the second quarter, one on a perfectly executed draw play where Fagan bolted to the end zone and another when Hayes found Dustin France for an 11-yard TD. The Hornets’ final score of the night came in the third frame, again on a draw play to Fagan.
Fife added a touchdown with 29 seconds left on the clock to polish off the night’s scoring.
