Hockinson figures out Ridgefield in 42-15 victory

Another slow start.

Another fast finish.

Another Hockinson victory.

“You just pegged our team right there,” coach Rick Steele quipped after his seventh-ranked Hawks defeated Ridgefield 42-15 on Friday night in a 2A Greater St. Helens League game at Nautilus Stadium.

“We start slow every week, but something we preach to this team is that we need to see how our opponent defends us, see what’s open, and then we take off. It took us awhile to figure out what Ridgefield was doing defensively, but once we did, it was smooth sailing.”

The point at which the Hawks (4-0, 2-0) figured things out came midway through the second quarter with the score tied at 7. The Spudders (1-3, 0-1) had the ball at midfield when Canon Racanelli stepped in front of a pass and returned the interception 20 yards to the 50.

Racanelli then led a 10-play drive, capped when he snuck the ball over the goal line from the 1, to put Hockinson ahead to stay with 3:15 left before halftime.

“I just read the quarterback’s eyes,” Racanelli said. “He underthrew it, and I cut (the route). It got us the ball when we needed it, and we marched it down.”

The Hawks forced a quick three-and-out from the Spudders, who fumbled the snap on the ensuing punt to give Hockinson the ball at the Ridgefield 8-yard line. On the next play, Racanelli found younger brother Sawyer for the second of their three touchdown connections, giving the Hawks some breathing room just before halftime.

“When you play good teams, you can’t help them out,” said Ridgefield coach Kim Ulman. “I thought our kids played well, but a few big plays, that’s all Hockinson needs.”

Hockinson received the second-half kickoff and needed only four plays to push the lead to 28-7, with the Racanelli brothers hooking up from 31 yards out.

“Everything started coming together for us,” said Canon, who finished 11-for-17 passing for 185 yards and four touchdowns. “Our offense started to read and react, people started making more plays, and we started pulling away.”

Steele credited an improved running game with helping his team find a rhythm offensively. A week after racking up more than 200 yards on the ground in a win over Woodland, the Hawks amassed 137 vs. the Spudders, with senior Colton Wheeler gaining 104 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had a running back get over 100 yards,” Steele said. “Last year, we just couldn’t run the ball. Tonight, though, our offensive line blocked well up front, opened up some holes for us, and Colton really ran the ball well.”

The Hawks opened the scoring with a bang as Canon hit Sawyer on a 55-yard bomb midway through the first quarter. Ridgefield answered when Martin ripped a fourth-down run off left tackle and went 59 yards to the end zone.

Martin finished with 99 yards on 15 carries, also caught a game-high six passes for 66 yards, and amassed more than 200 all-purpose yards. Brock Harrison had a game-high eight tackles for the Spudders.

HOCKINSON 42, RIDGEFIELD 15

Ridgefield 7 0 0 8–15

Hockinson 7 14 14 7–42

First Quarter

H–Sawyer Racanelli 55 pass from Canon Racanelli (Nick Charles kick)

R–Jeremy Martin 59 run (Jonathan Flury kick)

Second Quarter

H–C.Racanelli 1 run (Charles kick)

H–S.Racanelli 8 pass from C.Racanelli (Charles kick)

Third Quarter

H–S.Racanelli 31 pass from C.Racanelli (Charles kick)

H–Peyton Brammer 31 pass from C.Racanelli (Charles kick)

Fourth Quarter

R–Connor Lewis 5 pass from Dawson Lieurance (Martin run)

H–Colton Wheeler 10 run (Charles kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Ridgefield, Martin 15-99, Tucker Roberts 4-8, Hunter Abrams 8-17 Lewis 3-7, Lieurance 3-(minus 8), Clay Madsen 2-0, Flury 1-(minus 12). Hockinson, Wheeler 10-104, C.Racanelli 7-(minus 1), Joe Brennan 3-17, Jonathon Domingos 2-6, Kyle Brabec 2-2, Levi Crum 2-(minus 3), Kyle Nute 1-12.

PASSING–Ridgefield, Lieurance 9-20-1-93. Hockinson, C.Racanelli 11-17-1-185, Crum 2-2-0-13.

RECEIVING–Ridgefield, Martin 6-66, Lewis 2-12, Carter Pankow 1-15. Hockinson, S.Racanelli 4-97, Brammer 3-42, Matt Henry 2-10, Jake Beslanowitch 2-36, Mason Bonife 1-5, Dakota Souders 1-8.