Blocked PAT costs Columbia River vs. W.F. West

Dalton Garrett hardly had time to celebrate his pick-six on the Columbia River sideline before he watched W.F. West block the extra-point kick.

No big deal, he thought.

“Based on what our defense was doing all game, stopping them, I thought that our offense was going to be able to drive it down,” Garrett said.

Except the big play the Chieftains kept waiting for from their offense never came, and their season ended with a 7-6 loss to the Bearcats in a Class 2A regional playoff game Friday night at Kiggins Bowl.

For the first time since 2011, Columbia River’s season ends short of the state playoffs.

The Chieftains finished 5-5, while W.F. West awaits the result of tonight’s Black Hills-Hockinson playoff game to find out where it plays next week.

“This was a good football program when I got here,” said first-year River coach Christian Swain, “but anytime you bring in a new culture, a new scheme, there’s going to be bumps in the road.

“But for us to take an 8-1 football team into deep water like that says something about our team. I feel like we represented really well tonight.”

The Chieftains managed just 53 yards of total offense and had more punts (seven) than first downs (six), but their defense kept them alive by forcing three second-half turnovers and holding the Bearcats twice on fourth down.

“I was definitely a little shocked that we weren’t able to capitalize on offense,” Garrett said. “We threw everything we could at them, and they were able to take care of it.”

Garrett had inside position on the Bearcats receiver as the wobbly pass dropped in. He fended off the receiver and streaked untouched down the right sideline for a 36-yard touchdown with 7:19 to play.

It looked like this defensive standoff was destined for overtime, but 6-foot-6, 290-pound senior Hunter Arredondo swatted away the ensuing PAT attempt to keep the Bearcats in the lead.

“It just had to be done,” Arredondo said. “Our defense runs our team.”

The Chieftains forced a quick three-and-out and got the ball back with 5 minutes left, but three straight runs netted just four yards, forcing yet another punt with 3:03 to play.

W.F. West converted on third-and-3, then got another first down a minute later to run out the clock.

“It crossed my mind to go for two,” Swain said. “I knew that could be it right there, but I also knew that we were playing well enough on defense to get more opportunities to score. If we could just pin them down, we’d have a chance.”

The Bearcats offense struggled most of the night, but one big play set up their only score early in the second quarter. Tyson Guerrero turned a simple slant pass into a 58-yard gain, getting chased down by Koben Jamison at the River 17.

Four plays later, Austin Emery scored on a 10-yard run on fourth down.

W.F. West appeared poised to score on the opening drive of the second half, but Jamison forced a fumble near the goal line that Nahiku Lidstone recovered in the end zone.

Jamison later picked off a pass near midfield with 1:01 left in the third. But after River gained one first down, the Bearcats stiffened again to force another punt.

“They were really fast defensively, and whenever we went east-west, they made us pay for it,” Swain said. “We couldn’t protect our quarterback (Jack Armstrong), and he was running for his life all game, so when we tried to open things up, we went the wrong way.”

W.F. WEST 7, COLUMBIA RIVER 6

W.F. West 0 7 0 0—7

Col. River 0 0 0 6—6

Second Quarter

WF—Austin Emery 10 run (Cory Davis kick)

Fourth Quarter

CR—Dalton Garrett 36 interception return (kick blocked)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—WF, Emery 14-67, Nole Wollan 15-98, Ka’imi Henry 5-8, Tyler Guerrero 1-1, team 4-(minus 19). CR, Hunter Pearson 17-41, Nathaniel Trevino 8-8, Jack Armstrong 4-(minus 29), Shawn Sadler 1-2, Koben Jamison 1-0, team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING—WF, Wollan 5-14-2-74. CR, Armstrong 5-7-0-33.

RECEIVING—WF, Guerrero 2-60, Drew Forgione 1-13, Dakota Hawkins 1-6, Emery 1-(minus 5). CR, Garrett 2-16, Jamison 1-11, Pearson 1-5, Sadler 1-1.