9/2/16
(Tumwater, WA) The Timberline Blazers came out ready to dominate and it looked like they would after pushing the Wolves around in the 1st quarter, particularly on their 1st drive. After quickly squashing the Wolves opening drive the Blazers took over near mid-field and quickly marched down the field behind the running of running back Anthony Hathaway.
During the drive there was a lengthy delay when Drew Kimmel took a shot to the head area and complained about pain in his neck. Black Hills trainer Vince Gildner told us Kimmel was taken off the field on a back-board for precautionary reasons and transported to the hospital for an evaluation. As Kimmel was being taken off the field he was waving both hands and giving a thumbs up.
Once play resumed Hathaway blasted into the endzone from the 3 yard line, Madison Douglas added the PAT and it was 7-0 Timberline 5 minutes into the game.
Black Hills then stalemated the Blazers for quite some time. Between some big plays by the Wolves and plenty of penalties on Timberline both extended Wolves drives and ended the Blazers. Black Hills best chance to score began with another penalty on Timberline and another injury and loss of a starter for the Wolves who were already short handed coming into the game.
The Wolves’ Kyler Nygren took a vicious shot from the Blazers’ Zach Rohr on an incomplete pass. It was a helmet to helmet collision that knocked Nygren out of the game after failing to pass the concussion protocol to get back in the game. B-H Coach Kirk Stevens was not pleased with the hit and let the officials know that Rohr should have been ejected. The officials only penalized Rohr which moved the ball down to the 20 yard line.
Black Hills then had more to complain about the stripes on a 4th down play when QB Christian Williams threw a pass to Nate Kindall but Kindall was wiped out by the defensive back well before the ball got to the receiver. 2 officials in the area and neither tossed a flag and the ball was turned over to Timberline instead of the Wolves having a 1st down and goal.
Timberline finally got their act together with less than 3 minutes to play in the half scoring not once but twice with the man leading the way. Hathaway, who rushed for 151 yards scored his 2nd touchdown from the 5 yard line and then after a quick 3 and out and a short punt, Hathaway scored again from the 7 with just seconds to play and Timberline blew open a close game leading 21-0 at the break.
In the 2nd half the Blazers pushed harder scoring 2 more times in the 1st 6 minutes of the 3rd. Relief running back Jordan Ferrer showed he should be more than a change-up when he burst through the pack of defenders and pulled away with a 57-yard TD run.
The Blazers shared QB’ing between starter Jacob Henning and Trent Horn. It would be Horn who next struck for Timberline with a 1-yard plunge to make it 35-0 and we were closing in on a running clock with 1 more score.
But the Wolves weren’t done competing and would finally get on the board when Taylor Simmons broke free on a 15-yard run. The extra point failed but it was 35-6. The Wolves looked like they were about to give up another touchdown on the next drive but the Blazers turned the ball over deep in Wolves territory. On 3rd down the snap was high and went over the top of the head of Williams and through the endzone for a safety to make it 37-6.
Markzander Montgomery would cap the scoring for Timberline with a 6-yard run and the Blazers finished the night with 6 rushing touchdowns and 340+ yards.
Black Hills would also score one more time on a great throw from Christian Williams to Kade Weitzel, Williams then hit Noah Brewer for the 2 point conversion for the final 43-14 score. The Wolves drop to 0-1 and Timberline is off to a 1-0 start.
Our Tommy Lowe of the Greene Realty Group Players of the Game went to Anthony Hathaway for Timberline and Taylor Simmons for the Wolves. Our ProActive Physical Therapy Play of the Game went to Isaac Thompson for Timberline on a beautiful one-handed interception along the side line.
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