Where there’s skill, there’s way for Wildcats

RICHLAND – Hanford football coach Rob Oram had no trouble assessing his team’s 48-14 loss to Greater Spokane League champion Mt. Spokane in the first round of the State 3A football playoffs at Fran Rish Stadium Friday night.

“Mt. Spokane has excellent skill players who make plays,”Oram said. “It seems so simple, but that’s it.”

Oram’s point about Mt. Spokane’s skill players was illustrated by the Wildcats’ balanced attack.

Senior quarterback Travis Ward passed for 280 yards, connecting on 19 of 27 passes to eight receivers. Chip Propp was on the receiving end of four passes for 97 yards.

With Mt. Spokane already leading 21-0, Hanford quarterback Brenton Griffen hit Cameron Wager with a swing pass to the right side of the field. But as Wager turned up field, Mt. Spokane’s Colten Williams stripped the ball from Wager and headed back upfield for a 45-yard touchdown.

“He just took the ball out of Cameron’s arms,” an incredulous Oram said. “To do that to a guy as strong as Wagar, a kid has to be pretty darn good.”

Next up for Mt. Spokane is top-ranked Lakes (11-0), which defeated North Thurston 56-0 Friday night.

The Wildcats (10-1) opened the scoring when Williams capped a five-play, 49-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run in the final moments of the first quarter. Ward would finish off a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 17-yard TD pass to Propp to put Mt. Spokane up 14-0 with 5:11 in the first half.

Mt. Spokane extended its lead to 21-0 on the opening possession of the second half when Nathan Blackham raced 49 yards down the left sideline with 9:31 remaining in the third quarter.

After Williams’ return TD, Ward scored on a 2-yard keeper with 9:07 left in the fourth quarter to put his team up by five touchdowns.

Wagar had a 15-yard touchdown run that finished off a 65-yard Falcons drive that included by 55 yards in Mt. Spokane penalties, including two for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Ward hit Evan Poynor with a 22-yard touchdown strike with 6:12 left in the game and then connected with Carson Blumenthal on a 49-yard catch-and-run play with 3 minutes left to finish off the Wildcats’ scoring.

Hanford scored its final touchdown when Shawn VanDeMark finished off a six-play 69-yard drive with a 10-yard run with only 31 seconds left in the game. Wagar collected 51 of his game-high 119 rushing yards on the Falcons’ final TD drive of the season.