Granger grounds out Goldendale
ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN
Reporter
Mychal Lopez and Chase Carpenter proved hard to tackle, as the Spartans ran over and around Goldendale for 302 yards in Granger’s 27-7 win over the Timberwolves last Friday.
On the first play from scrimmage, Lopez flew around the left end for a 70-yard touchdown. He would end up with 132 yards on the ground and 91 in the air. But, it was Carpenter who was the workhorse with 27 carries for 178 yards and three touchdowns for Granger.
Inconsistency in the passing game and missed tackles kept Goldendale from making the game closer. Pressed into a long passing game, which Coach Don Strother admits is not practiced by the team, Austin Ross was intercepted four times and had several passes dropped by receivers. Ross finished the day 8-25 for 114 yards. He hooked up with J.D. Moss for a 40-yard second quarter touchdown.
After staking the Spartans to a 20-0 lead with two minutes gone in the second quarter, the Timberwolves settled down and played an even game with each team scoring once in the final 34 minutes of play. In fact, Goldendale was the dominant team during the final 10 minutes of the second quarter, as the defense stiffened to force Granger into two punts and an interception on their last three possessions of the half.
Following Moss’s touchdown the Spartans had a couple of plays work as they moved to Goldendale’s 48 yard line before things stalled. On third and 10, Lopez was tackled by Blake Lesko on a rollout, causing a weak pass that was picked off by Jose’ Casimiro.
Five plays later, Ross hung out a pass for Cole Cameron, but he couldn’t hang on in the corner of the end zone. With time running out in the half, Ross tried to force a pass across the field, but Lopez intercepted to preserve the 20-7 lead.
The loss leaves Goldendale solidly in fourth place with a 2-2 record. Friday’s game is Homecoming against the 4-0 Zillah Leopards. The Wolves will be without Moss, who broke his collar bone during the game. Ron Lindhe is questionable after reinjuring his left knee.
Only Cle Elum and Mabton are eliminated from the hunt for a playoff spot. Zillah and Granger have yet to play undefeated Naches Valley. Goldendale could clinch a spot with a victory over Highland in their final game, regardless of the outcome versus Zillah. Coach Strother is looking to get back to the ball control game of short passes and runs, that has been key to Timberwolf wins.
Goldendale 0 7 0 0 7
Granger 14 6 7 0 27
Rushing: Goldendale - Cairns 17-75, Ross 5-16. Granger - Carpenter 27-178, Lopez 14-132, Daniel Martinez 1-1.
Passing: Goldendale - Ross 8-25-4-114, Briseno 1-1-0-8. Granger - Lopez 8-21-2-91.
Receiving: Goldendale - Moss 3-61, Cameron 3-38, Dobson 1-10, Ron Lindhe 1-8, Dalton Jaekal 1-5. Granger - Francisco Morales 5-46, Mitchell Zapien 2-35, Martinez 1-10.
Cross country runners enjoy run in Ekone’ Park
Royal and Zillah brought two strong groups of runners to Goldendale last week to compete in the SCAC meet against the Timberwolves. It was a good test for Goldendale’s Asa Israel, who is looking for a podium finish at this year’s state cross-country meet.
Royal won the team title at last year’ statemeet, behind Humberto and Rigoberto Jimenez, who won in a dead heat. Israel was 13th in that race. Eleven seconds ahead of Israel was Ethan Tonnemaker of Royal. With the Jimenez twins graduated, Tonnemaker is Royal’s top runner.
Last week, Israel beat Tonnemaker by 29 seconds in the race through Ekone’ Park. Israel ran a 17:13 to lead a Timberwolf team that is looking to qualify a team at this year’s district meet.
It was Zillah, however that walked away with head-to-head team wins over the Knights and Wolves. Zillah runners finished in third through sixth to take the team title.
While conceding the win to Zillah, Goldendale was even with Royal in points thanks to strong finishes by Goldendale runners. Connor Harris finished ninth in 19:33 and Dylan Powers was 10th in 19:34. The only other Royal runner in the top 10 was Roy Angel, who finished seventh.
Putnam dominates
The girl’s race was led from start to finish by Neola Putnam of Glenwood. Putnam, who trains and races with Goldendale, will compete as a B school runner at districts. Putnam enjoyed the moderate temperature as she looked strong to the finish in 21:01, nearly a minute ahead of the competition.
Goldendale’s Addie Christiansen had a steady performance, finishing in 23:44, for fifth place. Christensen, who qualified in her first year of cross country, last year, has knocked about two minutes off her time this year. Freshman, Lexy Knowlton, the only other Goldendale runner on the girl’s team, finished 11th in 25:45.
Other area runners: Goldendale – Zach Wandersheid 20:10, Cole Hagedorn 21:01, Trevor Fields 21:02, Andy Alcantar 22:40, Skylor Ladiges 22:41.5, Riley Kauffman 22:49, Michael Bradley 24:07, Alex Chipman 24:10, Bryant Groves 28:34. Lyle-Wishram – Jose’ Martinez 21:16, Brian Niefert 21:23, Tony Becker 22:40.6, Steven McCluskey 22:40.8, Francisco Martinez 28:42.
Second season soccer shows growth for Wolves
The Goldendale Timberwolf soccer team lost a heart-breaker in the make-up match against Mabton last week, 1-0 in overtime. The team was optimistic about the game against Mabton, coming just nine days following a 4-2 win over the Vikings in Mabton.
The Timberwolves had plenty of opportunities, as Mabton played a defensive game up until the overtime. Goalie, Teresa Flores made 17 saves for the visitors and the Vikings clogged up the middle, thwarting Goldendale attacks. The 0-0 tie forced two, 10-minute periods of overtime.
The tenor of the match shifted noticeably. Whereas most of the previous 80 minutes were played on Mabton’s half of the field, the Vikings went on the attack in overtime. With four minutes left in the first overtime period, Marisal Leon fired a hard shot from point blank range that ricocheted off Wolf goalie, Sydney Ross’ mid-section, right to Alma Leon, who sent it into the left corner for the goal.
The final 10 minutes was an all-out attack by Goldendale, responding to Coach Jimmy Dick’s urging to pick up the pace. The Vikings fought off the onslaught, surviving a couple of free kicks by Traci Bailey, to earn the win.
Also last week, Goldendale lost a league match against Wahluke, 5-2, and concluded the season with a 3-0 loss at Ki-Be. Carly Wheelon scored a goal and was credited with an assist for Goldendale against Wahluke. The second goal was scored by Andrea Keffeler. Traci Bailey also had an assist.
Saturday’s opponent, Ki-Be went on top 2-0 with a minute left in the first half. The only other score of the match was scored by the Bears at the 51 minute mark. McKayla Whitmire and Sydney Ross combined for 11 saves for Goldendale.
The Timberwolves finish the season 2-13-1. Among their most important accomplishments this year is fielding a complete team with 20 players. The team was competitive in many games and developed an offense that other teams had to respect and defense that made opponents earn their goals.
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