Prep football roundup: Defending SPSL South champion Emerald Ridge off to 0-2 start

Emerald Ridge High has started the season just like it did last year: suffering defeats to Prosser and Kentwood.

Unlike last year, however, this Jaguar squad has looked better and played stronger, especially on offense.

“They looked good and played better these first two weeks than we did last year,” co-coach Darren Erath said. “The offense is getting better each week … (Logan) Skoda has demonstrated his natural leadership ability and it’s showing when he’s in the huddle. They feel confident with him.”

Even after losing to Prosser, 40-10, in week one, and narrowly falling to Kentwood, 42-32, on Friday night at French Field, Emerald Ridge has the look of a playoff team.

“We have guys who want to compete. We have an offensive line that showed what they can do on Friday,” quarterback Logan Skoda said.

Junior quarterback Skoda has shown rough patches, making mistakes and poor decisions often seen by a first-year QB.

But there is hope that these mistakes will be cleaned up and not duplicated the following week.

In the game against Prosser, Skoda set school records in attempts (64) and completions (34), finishing with 338 passing yards. Those numbers look great, but they only led to 10 points as Skoda was intercepted five times by the Mustangs.

“I was a little nervous and tried to force too many throws,” Skoda admitted. “But throwing the ball a lot definitely did help me (against Kentwood).”

In Friday’s game against the Conquerors, it was a different Skoda on display. Instead of forcing throws like he did against Prosser, Skoda would pull the ball down and run with it.

Skoda had 94 yards rushing against the Conks with touchdowns of 6 and 16 yards. He also finished 22 of 32 with 247 yards passing.

“Logan has been good at preparing (the offense) for games,” said receiver Dustin Resnik, who finished with 63 yards on four receptions. “Once he gets more experience, this offense will be able to play against anybody.”

Almost complete

Emerald Ridge receiver Andrew Boston is facing one of the toughest weeks he can go through. After catching eight passes for 83 yards, it’s the catch that Boston didn’t make that is left in the forefront of his mind.

“You’re going to drop passes sometimes,” said Boston, who showed visible frustration after the drop. “It just happened to be the biggest catch I dropped. All I can do is catch all them the next time.”

Trailing 35-32 with 2 minutes, 3 seconds left in the fourth, Skoda moved Emerald Ridge to midfield. Facing a fourth and 3, Skoda found Boston open on seam route down the middle of the field with nothing but the end zone in front of him.

The entire Kentwood bench held its breath as Skoda hit his receiver with a perfectly placed ball, right into the pocket of Boston’s arms and chest. But Boston dropped it.

“Boston is a fantastic player — 9 out of 10 he makes that catch,” Kentwood coach Michael Bush said. “That was ballgame if he caught it.”

After Boston showed visible frustration on the drop, Skoda went to his receiver and placed the blame on himself.

“I just told him to keep his head up,” Skoda said after the game. “(It’s) one drop. He’s a better receiver than that and everyone knows it. I went over and told him I love him and he’s a better receiver than that.”

Orting 17, Cascade Christian 7: For the second consecutive week, the Cardinals upset a team, this time on the road against the Cougars at Sunset Chev Stadium. Cascade Christian (1-1) will look to regroup this week when they travel to play Nooksack Valley (0-2).

Sumner 34, Shelton 3: For the second straight week, it’s been Connor Wedington and a stout Spartan defense that helped Sumner (2-0) route the Narrows League’s Highclimbers. Wedington had scores of 9, 61 and 8 yards, while Kolby Nikolaisen had a fumble recovery for a score.

Bonney Lake 58, Clover Park 0: Marcus Hamilton had a field day in the Panthers’ route of the Warriors as he finished with three scores in Bonney Lake’s (1-1) win. Hamilton took back two punt returns (45 and 76 yards) for scores as well as catching a touchdown from Braydon Tressler.

Bonney Lake travels to play Auburn Mountainview this week, while Sumner travels to face Enumclaw.

Lincoln 41, Puyallup 16: History did not repeat itself for the Vikings. Last season, Puyallup (0-2) led at halftime — this season it was all Lincoln (2-0) as the Abes never let up to rout their historic rival at Sparks Stadium on Friday.

Tahoma 44, Rogers 17: The Rams could not find that second-half magic for the second week consecutive week as the Bears took it to Rogers (1-1) at Tahoma High School.

The Rams will travel to face Camas at Doc Harris Stadium, while the Vikings host Bethel at home this week.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Prep football roundup: Defending SPSL South champion Emerald Ridge off to 0-2 start."