Columbia River shuts out Mark Morris 35-0

LONGVIEW — Two games. Two wins. Two shutouts.

Columbia River is off to a fast start, a season that at least one Chieftain says will last well into November, maybe even December.

“It’s another step toward 9-0 and then a state championship,” linebacker Hunter Graham said. “You can bet you’re going to see us in the Tacoma Dome. We’re one of the top teams in the state of Washington.”

Defensive lineman Isaac Ennis is confident, too. He just would prefer a more low-key approach.

“Hunter is outgoing,” Ennis said with a smile.

It was all smiles for Columbia River on Thursday night. The Chieftains roared to a 35-0 victory over Mark Morris, a week after beating R.A. Long 32-0.

Gabe Evenson threw three touchdown passes — two to Carson Bassett — and the Columbia River defense held the Monarchs to 86 yards of offense.

Ennis said the Chieftains used their preparation time wisely for this game against a Mark Morris offense built on deception and change-of-direction handoffs.

“In practice, just trying to figure it out was difficult,” Ennis said. “In the game, I think we managed to pick it up pretty well.”

“It’s a really great standout for our defense,” Graham said. “We’ve just been working hard. We just play fast and hard and fly to the football.”

Getting to the football helped River open the scoring. Nathan Hawthorne ran to a loose ball that Mark Morris thought was an incomplete pass. The backward pass was rolling toward the sideline when Hawthorne sprinted to the ball and dove on it just it time for the fumble recovery.

Five plays later, Hawthorne was in the end zone, catching a 4-yard pass from Evenson.

The Chieftains would not score on their next three possessions — sometimes out of synch, with another drive ending on a fumble.

The Monarchs had only one good scoring opportunity in the game, though. River’s Russell Rose recovered a fumble on the Chieftains’ 17-yard line midway through the second quarter. Mark Morris only crossed the 50-yard line one more time in the game and that was on a kickoff return after a River touchdown with less than a minute to go in the first half.

Graham had two sacks, Ennis was in on one and also had a couple of run-stuffs. Mason Schell and Nic Briggs were in on tackles-for-loss, as well.

Bassett caught a 6-yard TD pass from Evenson to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. His 32-yard TD reception in the third quarter made it 28-0. Vincent Daniels and Travon Santiago scored rushing touchdowns for the Chieftains.

COLUMBIA RIVER 35, MARK MORRIS 0

Col. River 7 7 14 7—35

M. Morris 0 0 0 0—0

First quarter

CR — Nathan Hawthorne 4 pass from Gabe Evenson (Garrett McKee kick)

Second quarter

CR — Carson Bassett 6 pass from Evenson (McKee kick)

Third quarter

CR — Vincent Daniels 11 run (McKee kick)

CR — Bassett 32 pass from Evenson (McKee kick)

Fourth quarter

CR — Travon Santiago 9 run (McKee kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Columbia River: Travon Santiago 11-29, Daniels 5-40, Hawthorne 1-9, Matt Ruffalo 1-2. Mark Morris: Zach McCarthy 8-19, Daniel Wilfong 8-27, Brent Myklebust 4-(minus 19), August Shulda 5-9, Kyle Johnson 8-28, Tanner Bussing 9-14, Jordan Frost 1-5, James Manthe 2-(minus 14).

PASSING — Columbia River: Evenson 17-28-0-147, McKee 4-5-0-34, Dalton Garrett 1-2-0-1. Mark Morris: James Manthe 1-2-1-17, Myklebust 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Columbia River: Hawthorne 5-43, Holden Fielding 3-22, Rory Menegat 1-11, James Lulay 4-26, Bassett 5-66, Jacob Bystry 2-6, Jacob Ringold 1-7, Nathan Pyles 1-1. Mark Morris: Caleb Delamarter 1-17.