Eatonville Clinches Share Of League Title, Advances To District Playoffs

After being caged and sidelined for the last two weeks due to game cancelations, the Eatonville Cruiser football team took out their frustrations on visiting Hoquiam High School to the tune of a 42-7 shellacking of the Grizzlies to clinch a share of the 1A Evergreen Conference title on Thursday night.

The defense played lights out and limited Hoquiam to only 41 yards of offense in the first half and 134 yards total in the game. They would force six punts, a fumble, and intercept the Grizzlies once.

"The defense collectively executed at a high level. There was a lot of communication and they tackled well in space," defensive coordinator Rex Norris said.

"Some of the top performances were Max Henley at LB. He had some key plays and physical tackles for loss as well as a sack. The entire secondary played well. Ky Nation was a physical presence in the alley with his tackling and Riley Hill as well as Walker Bruun made some big plays with broken-up passes and an interception to stop a drive. The defensive line was much improved with Tristen Lewis anchoring the line and finishing with a sack. The goal was to get out there and stop them early and keep giving the ball back to the offense. We did a good job of that, especially in the first half," Norris went on to say.

The Cruisers would score on 6 of their 7 possessions in the first half before letting their foot off the gas late in the 2nd quarter. Running back Dylan Norman would rush for over 100 yards for the fourth straight game after being sidelined due to an injury suffered in the Tenino game.

"Having Dylan back healthy is very important to our team. It's not just his play he also elevates the performance of those around him," said Head Coach Gavin Kralik. "Walker played well also and it is nice to be able to rotate fresh backs that bring a little different skill set to opposing defenses."

Eatonville would open the scoring floodgates so to speak when they would march 55-yards on their first possession for the score that would see quarterback Job Kralik keeping the ball and bouncing it outside the left side of the offensive line and into the endzone to give the Cruisers a 7-0 lead.

After Hoquiam's next drive was stalled at their 29-yard line and were forced to punt, the Cruisers would march 78 yards and cap the drive off by handing the ball off to Ky Nation on a jet sweep and he would outrace the defense 33 yards to hit pay dirt and extend the Cruiser lead to 14-0.

Following another Grizzlie punt that set the Cruisers up with great field position, Eatonville would only need to go 35 yards. This drive would be capped with a Dylan Norman 5-yard carry for the score. Eatonville would now lead 21-0 as the 1st quarter came to an end.

Another great defensive effort by Eatonville would result in another Hoquiam punt and the Cruisers would waste no time putting together a 5-play, 60-yard drive resulting in another Kralik touchdown run from 4-yards out to put the Cruisers up 28-0.

A Walker Bruun interception would put the Cruisers back in business at the Eatonville 36-yard line where it would only take five plays to find the endzone again. Bruun would get the call and carry the ball in untouched from the 7-yard line for the score. Eatonville would now lead 35-0 with 6:04 left in the half.

Another Hoquiam punt would give the Cruisers great field position again this time at the Hoquiam 33-yard line. One play later, Bruun would take the Krlaik hand-off 33-yards to the house to put the Cruisers up 42-0 with 4:08 left in the 2nd half.

With Eatonville leading 42-0 in the first half, both coaches agreed to enact the running clock rule, which usually goes into effect when a team is up by 40 points or more in the second half.

After another Hoquiam 3 and out, forced by a timely sack by Eatonville's Max Henley, would force a Grizzly punt that would set the Cruisers up at their 42-yard line. A few plays later, a sloppy pitch to the running back resulted in a fumble that Hoquiam would recover at the Cruiser 41-yard line. The Grizzlies would only have time for one play, an incomplete pass as the game clock expired on the first half with Eatonville holding a commanding 42-0 lead.

Eatonville's Payton Hanly (#7) celebrates with Max Henley (#10) after Henley ran down Hoquiam quarterback Zander Jump (#10) dropping him for a loss and forcing another Hoquiam punt. Photo: Trinity Potter

With the Cruisers leading 42-0 and receiving the kick-off to start the second half, Head Coach Gavin Kralik decided to kick to Hoquiam instead.

Starting at the 35-yard line, the Grizzlies would fumble the ball at their 48-yard line and Eatonville's Boedy Porter was there to fall on it.

Eatonville's back-ups were unable to move the ball and would punt the ball back to Hoquiam.

Set up at their 20-yard line, the Grizzlies would string together a 13-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a Zander Jump to Owen McNeill 24-yard yard touchdown reception to erase the Cruiser shutout at 42-7.

Following a Colton Herbrand 20-yard kick return, the Cruisers would grind out the clock on the ground on their way to a 42-7 victory.

Dylan Norman would lead the team in rushing with 136 yards and a touchdown. Going over 100 yards rushing means his offensive line will be getting doughnuts again on Monday. Walker Bruun rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Job Kralik would score twice for the Cruisers and Ky Nation would carry the ball once for 33 yards and a touchdown.

That victory secures a share of the 1A Evergreen Conference title with Tenino and Montesano. The conference tie-breaker system was used to determine the seeding into the district playoffs. Eatonville will be the #3 seed, with Tenino earning the #1 and Montesano the #2.

The Cruisers will hit the road and travel to the TriCo league #2 team, the Castle Rock Rockets on Friday, November 4th for a 7:00 pm match-up in a winner-to-state, loser-out contest.

Kralik gave us a little peek into what the Cruiser offense should expect to see on Friday night against Castle Rock.

"Castle Rock is 7-2 and going to be a big challenge next week. They will spread you out defensively and have the ability to present challenges in both the running and passing games. They are diverse in how they attack opposing offenses with their defensive scheme. We have a big challenge ahead of us and we look forward to the opportunity."

"Castle Rock will be motivated to show why they have won seven games in front of a home crowd. They are athletic at the skill positions and challenge our ability to defend the entire field. They have had a lot of success both running and passing the ball. This will be the fourth team we will play with 7 wins or more. We have a big challenge ahead of us, but we look forward to the opportunity," added Norris about the Rocket offense Eatonville will face.