STEVENSON — Friday night’s playoff game between Stevenson and Hoquiam featured a little of everything.
A fake punt on the first drive. And there were a couple of goal line stands. Multiple onside kicks, a blocked punt and a double pass.
But what there wasn’t much of was points. Both teams were diligent, keeping the ball on the ground.
But in the end, it was Hoquiam who stuck to it to pull out the 7-6 victory at Stevenson to advance to the 1A state football playoffs thanks to a 1-yard touchdown from Tahj Malone.
Stevenson’s Josh Anderson broke the standstill in the third quarter with a 3-yard TD as he finished with 98 yards on 16 carries.
The key moment was a blocked Stevenson punt with 7:15 in the fourth quarter that set the Grizzlies up on the Stevenson 14-yard line.
Stevenson got into Hoquiam territory thanks to a 39-yard double-pass from running back Ty O’Neal to Josh Miller but the Grizzlies stood tall in the redone to get the win.
HOQUIAM 7, STEVENSON 6
Hoquiam 0 0 0 7—7
Stevenson 0 0 6 0—6
Third quarter
S — Josh Anderson 3 run (run failed)
Fourth quarter
H — Tahj Malone 1 run (Kenny Wakefield kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Hoquiam: Tyler White 26-87; Kenny Wakefield 5-26; Tahj Malone 1-1; Dick Gregory 1-(minus 8). Stevenson: Josh Anderson 16-98; Josh Miller 10-37; Colton VanPelt 8-8; Bryan Griffin 5-13; Brandon Campbell 4-5; Ty O’Neal 2-11.
PASSING — Hoquiam: 1-9-0-3; Stevenson: VanPelt 4-8-0-35; O’Neal 1-1-0-39.
RECEIVING — Hoquiam: White 1-3. Stevenson: Miller 2-45; O’Neal 1-24; Griffin 1-5; Campbell 1-0.
