Suffocating defense and clock control carry Steilacoom to a win over White River
The Steilacoom Sentinels didn’t need a lot of offense on Thursday night. Their defense made sure of that.
But the Sentinels got enough going to get away with a 2A South Puget Sound League victory, 14-0, over visiting White River.
“We’re going to need more offense,” Steilacoom coach Kyle Haller said. “But our defense comes to play every day. That gives the offense time. We’ve got some work to do.”
Ultimately, Steilacoom quarterback Caleb Crider threw two touchdown passes as he completed just six of 21 passes overall for 109 yards. But the Steilacoom defense held the Hornets to just 138 yards of total offense.
Can’t throw? Run!
While the Steilacoom passing game got the big plays for points, the Sentinels controlled the clock on the ground. The running back tandem of De’Andre Napier and Jaycion Cain combined for 162 yards on 22 total carries to keep Steilacoom moving enough to limit opportunities for White River (2-3 overall, 1-2 SPSL).
Individually, Napier finished with 92 yards on 15 rushes. Cain added 70 yards on 17 carries.
“Probably a little more balanced that usual,” Haller said. “The passing game will get better.”
Another guy who has spent time at running back made maybe the biggest play of the evening early in the fourth quarter. Ashton Dilley ran a wide route and was wide open for Crider inside the right sideline on a third-and-10 from the Steilacoom 44-yard line.
Crider laid the ball up, Dilley grabbed it and used his quickness to sprint the final 20 yards or so for the Sentinels’ second score of the night with 8 minutes, 57 seconds to play, extending the margin to 14-0.
“7-0 wasn’t quite good enough for us at that point,” Steilacoom senior receiver Cole Miller said. “To have him slip out on that wheel route, wide open pretty much, it was a great feeling. We were all pumped for him. He’s a running back typically, so getting him catching the ball way down field is great.”
Doing enough to win
The Sentinels (3-0, 3-0) may not have been explosive on Thursday, with that play to Dilley being an exception, but Steilacoom continued to do enough to win.
After the teams traded possessions that ate up all but 49 seconds of the first quarter and ended in fourth-down failures, Steilacoom finally got on track midway into the second quarter. Crider had his best drive of the game, going 3-for-3 during a five-play, 49-yard drive that finally put the Sentinels on the scoreboard.
The final play, and the only one Steilacoom ultimately needed, was an 11-yard strike to Miller.
“White River came out and was able to hold us on offense maybe a little more than we were anticipating,” Miller said. “They played a great game. It felt great to get in the end zone, though. My outside receiver ran a great route, opened me up in the corner and Caleb threw about as pretty a ball as you could, put it right in the bread basket. So I’m just thankful for it.”
Though Steilacoom got the only turnover of the game (other than fourth-down failures), and were blessed with other short-field opportunities, the Sentinels still didn’t get back to pay dirt until that lightning strike bomb to Dilley in the fourth.
The Gold Standard
While the solid defensive effort was encouraging for the Hornets, they know that Steilacoom remains the barrier other 2A SPSL teams must clear.
“We have so much respect for Steilacoom and their program,” White River coach Ken Pirone said. “Definitely, they’re one of those teams that, if we want to get over the hurdle in our league, we need to come out here and play with them. And I thought we did that today. We went toe-to-toe with them.”
Hoping to Cash in on Cashman
Once White River got down, though, the Hornets were forced to abandon most of their running game. That gave Steilacoom’s defense a chance to really get after White River quarterback Cole Cashman, who was sacked four times in the second half, including one with a fumble that led to the game’s lone turnover.
“So proud of the defense, how they played and how physical they were,” Pirone said. “We’re continuing to learn on offense. The quarterback, his second start, so I think we just see upside from here on out.”
Cashman beat Fife a week ago in his first start after a shoulder injury took out White River’s previous starter. White River just didn’t have enough to get by Steilacoom on Thursday.