Steilacoom gains a quarter of a mile through the air in 55-20 win over River Ridge

On paper, the game shaped up as a potential upset, a resurgent River Ridge High School looking to claim a share of the SPSL Mountain Division lead with a win over the state’s third-ranked 2A team.

Instead, on the field, it turned into a display of Steilacoom’s offensive versatility as the Sentinels (6-2) piled up 572 yards to down the Hawks (3-5), 55-20, at South Sound Stadium on Thursday night.

Steilacoom’s junior quarterback Chance McDonald accounted for just more than a quarter-mile of passing offense, completing 15 of 19 passes for 443 yards and seven touchdowns to three different receivers, each of whom caught a scoring pass from beyond midfield.

“We saw we had favorable match-ups on the perimeter,” said Steilacoom coach Colby Davies. “We love throwing the ball, putting it up in the air and letting our athletes make plays. Our quarterback is starting to get into a groove. I think he feels very comfortable back there now. He’s making great decisions.”

Nationally-recruited Sentinels wide out Emeka Egbuka lined up solo on one side of the field with multiple receivers arrayed on the opposite side. The Hawks couldn’t cover everyone.

Egbuka, seldom targeted in the early going, finished with just four catches, but he turned them into 158 yards and two touchdowns. Logan Brady was Steilacoom’s top receiver on the night, snagging eight passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns. Tre Horner caught just two balls, but both were good for long touchdowns, one from 32 and one from 64 yards.

“We knew that their safeties were going to overload Emeka’s side,” said McDonald. “That meant the guys on my back side, Tre and Logan, were going to be open all night. It’s an amazing blessing to come to practice every day and know I’ve got these guys to throw to.”

Though Steilacoom found ways to exploit the weaker points in River Ridge’s defense, Hawks’ coach Steve Schultz like the way his team adjusted over the course of the game.

“Our guys are so coachable. We’re going to get better from this,” he said. “The nice thing about playing a really good football team is it shows you where your weakest areas are.”

River Ridge totaled a respectable 304 yards in total offense, putting together two sustained second half scoring drives and getting anther productive night from running back Darion Brown, who again cracked triple digits with 116 yards on 26 carries.

But overall, the Hawks couldn’t match up with Steilacoom’s talent.

“Our guys were locked in and knew what we wanted to accomplish in every defensive set,” said Davies. “It was good to see guys fly around, under situations, make plays. Defense was questionable in our early losses, but we’ve been lights-out the last four or five weeks.”

River Ridge began with the idea of keeping the ball away from Steilacoom’s offense and recovered a game-opening onside kick. The Hawks put together a 10-play drive that stalled at the Sentinels’ five where they turned it over on downs.

Steilacoom responded with a 14-play, 95-yard scoring drive that featured nary a touch by Egbuka. McDonald found Brady at the back of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown.

When kicker/defensive back Greg Padgett made up for his only missed extra point of the night with an interception on the first play of River Ridge’s ensuing possession, it appeared the Sentinels had seized control. Rasun Williams ran into the end zone untouched three plays later for a 13-0 lead.

But the Hawks – particularly Brown – had some determination left.

On second and eight from the Hawks’ 34, Brown was slammed for a loss of three and appeared slow to get up. But after Steilacoom was penalized for a late hit, Brown took another handoff and sprinted 54 yards up the right sideline to get his team back within six.

“Darion’s a horse. He plays hard. He’s stronger than heck,” said Schultz.

But McDonald threw four unanswered touchdown passes and the result was never in doubt thereafter. After Egbuka’s second touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter, the mercy rule clock ran for the game’s final 11 minutes.

Schultz isn’t worried about his team going forward.

“We’re going to bounce back and be ready to play next week,” he said.

BOX SCORE

No. 3 Steilacoom 6 28 14 7 - 55

River Ridge 0 7 7 6 - 20

S – Logan Brady 4-yard pass from Chance McDonald (kick failed)

S – Rasun Williams 4 run (Greg Padgett kick)

R – Darion Brown 54 run (Jacob Miller kick)

S – Tre Horner 32 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)

S – Brady 74 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)

S – Emeka Egbuka 69 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)

S – Horner 64 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)

R – Brown 2 run (Miller kick)

S – Brady 20 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)

S – Egbuka 56 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)

R – Michael Paje 8 run (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

PASSING

S – McDonald 15-19-0-443.

R – Jevon Brown 5-17-3-96, Dontae Owens 0-1-0-0.

RUSHING

S – Williams 10-45, D.J. Fryer 4-27, McDonald 3-5, Cole Miller 2-41, Jonathan Tyrell-Smith 1-10, Caleb Melon 1-1

R– D. Brown 26-116, Max Eder 4-12, J. Brown 4-32, Darius Wilson 6-12, Reece Lindsey 2-5, Paje 5-23.

RECEIVING

S – Brady 8-168, Egbuka 4-158, Horner 2-96, Jaden Coalson 1-21.

R – Sean Brost 2-40, Owens 3-56.

This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 7:54 AM.