HS Football: Napavine Handles The Weather, Wins On Senior Night Over Forks

11/1/24

Napavine Tigers 54, Forks Spartans 10

(Napavine, WA) The Napavine Tigers have been to the last three 2B State Championship Games and are poised for another deep run, but first, they honored the seniors who were playing their final regular season game at home Thursday night. The Forks Spartans were coming off a 35-8 win over Raymond-South Bend last week. It was a windy, cold, and rain-soaked night that the teams also had to manage, with the temperature around 45 degrees at kickoff, and the rain and wind picked up during the game, dropping the temperature as well.

In the first quarter, Forks had the ball and moved it nicely down the field into Napavine territory. They picked up a pair of first downs, highlighted by a 13-yard pass from sophomore QB Emmanuel Hernandez-Stansbury to Cash Barajas. Karsen Denault made the first of many big plays in the game, grabbing an interception at Napavine’s own 30 to give the Tigers the ball. A few plays later, Denault would catch a pass from Grady Wilson, dodge a couple of defenders, and race into the end zone for the opening touchdown. Napavine added a two-point conversion to make it 8-0 in the opening minutes of the game. After a Forks punt, the Tigers drove down the field to the 13-yard line, where Grady Wilson lofted a pass for Karsen Denault and put it in the perfect spot for Denault to haul in the touchdown. Napavine would take a 14-0 lead. Forks drove the ball down the field again, this time leaning on the run game to pick up a few first downs, but were stopped on fourth down, turning the ball over to Napavine as the first quarter came to a close.

In the second quarter, Napavine would score early in the quarter, as Grady Wilson hit Colin Shields on a screen, and Shields scampered down the field for a 56-yard touchdown to give Napavine a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. After a Forks punt, Napavine had the longest drive of the night, going ten plays, 74 yards, and capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by junior running back Caleb Von Pressentin at the 5:33 mark of the second quarter. Napavine forced a Forks fumble on the ensuing drive to set up the offense at around the 30, where they’d drive down to the one-yard line, and Grady Wilson ran it in for the touchdown to give Napavine a 34-0 lead with a minute to go in the half. Forks moved the ball down the field again, but time ran out on the Spartans as they drove into Napavine territory when time expired in the first half. Napavine held a 34-0 lead at the halftime break.

In the third quarter, Forks stopped Napavine and forced a three-and-out. Karsen Denault had the wind at his back and boomed a punt 71 yards to pin Forks at their four-yard line. The Spartans fumbled, and Denault picked up the loose ball at the five, setting up Napavine with first and goal, where Colin Shields ran it in to give the Tigers a 41-0 lead. Forks fumbled, and Denault picked up the loose ball again, giving Napavine possession at the 36-yard line. Napavine ran a screen that freed up Caleb Von Pressentin for a 36-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 47-0 lead with eight and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Forks was forced to punt, and after a Napavine first down, the Tigers found Denault again, this time on a screen, and he weaved through traffic and galloped into the end zone for his third touchdown of the night, giving Napavine a 54-0 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Forks punted and put Napavine inside their 10-yard line, and a high snap resulted in a safety to give Forks their first points of the night. After the kickoff, Forks wasted no time scoring again as Emmanuel Hernandez-Stansbury rolled to his right and found Noah Foster, who ran up the field, was tackled from behind, and fumbled the ball. The ball rolled into the end zone, and Forks dove on top of it for the touchdown. The Spartans attempted an extra point, but the snap was bobbled. Forks made the best of it as the receivers made a heads-up play going into the end zone, and Hernandez-Stansbury floated the ball into the end zone, and the Spartans made the catch in the middle of about ten players to make it 54-10 with about five minutes left in the game. Time would expire as Napavine would get the 54-10 victory on their home turf on senior night.

Napavine improves to 7-2 on the season and will wait to see who their week 10 District Crossover Round opponent is. Forks drops to 3-6 on the season.

Our Thorbeckes Game MVP went to Napavine’s Karsen Denault. On senior night, Denault had three touchdowns, two fumbles recovered, an interception, and a 71-yard punt as he made his presence felt in all three phases of the game. Napavine had great performances from Caleb Von Pressentin who ran hard all night and helped stop the run defensively, Grady Wilson threw five touchdowns, ran for one, had a fumble recovery, and managed the weather to perfection. Colin Shields had a great night carrying the football for Napavine also.

Forks had a lot of underclassmen who played well, starting with quarterback Emmanuel Hernandez-Stansbury, who also managed the weather effectively for the Spartans. Kingston Steffen, a freshman, and Kaden Ward, a sophomore ran the ball well for the Spartans, and Noah Foster, Gage Willenbrink, and Landan Olson all made key plays for the Spartans on both offense and defense.

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