JOYCE — Collin West scooped up a fumble and returned it 65 yards for the winning touchdown as Crescent beat Oakville 26-20.
The Loggers jumped all over the bigger and stronger Acorns in the first half, reeling off three touchdowns to take a 20-0 lead a halftime in nonleague Class 1B football action Saturday.
Oakville came back to tie the score and had the ball with under 5 minutes to play.
The Acorns’ drive had reached Crescent territory when Cody Wolfer forced a fumble and West picked it up and took it to the house.
“Collin West came up for us huge on the big fumble return,” Loggers coach Darrell Yount said.
“I think that was so appropriate that the defense came up with the big play, as we were so dominant in that department the entire game.
“Just a great heads up play on his part, and it sure doesn’t hurt any to be fast.”
Crescent (2-1) rode the legs of Zach Fletcher and McCabe Story and the strong arm of Neil Peppard to put up three touchdowns in the first half.
Fletcher struck first on a nice fade route from Peppard from 18 yards out, then struck again, this time on the ground as he popped in from the 10-yard line.
West capped the first-half outburst by turning a short 10-yard strike from Peppard into a 35-yard touchdown scamper down the left sideline.
“We were very pleased with our offensive execution in the first half as pretty much everything we wanted to do was working,” Yount said.
Oakville (0-2) turned the tables on the Loggers in the second half, scoring 20 straight points by taking over the line of scrimmage with its hefty line, which went 290, 255 and 260 pounds, respectively.
The Acorns ripped off big scoring runs of 85 and 35 yards, wrapped around a short dive to the end zone, to tie the game at 20-20.
“Defensively we really didn’t give up much, but their big fellas were really a load and were able to create just enough cracks for their quick backs to find a couple of explosive plays,” Yount said.
Defensively, Oakville ramped up the pressure on Peppard, Crescent’s sophomore quarterback.
“We shot ourselves in the foot via big penalties on two drives which should have resulted in touchdowns, which could have provided the extra breathing room, but that’s football,” Yount said.
“They came storming back and we had a series of oh-so-close plays, but couldn’t keep the chains moving.”
But Wolfer and West saved the day, and after the ensuing kickoff, a booming kick from Luke Leonard, Crescent’s defense came up big again, forcing a four-and-out series to take the ball back and secure the win.
Fletcher led the Loggers with 87 yards rushing and 71 yards receiving on four catches.
He also led the defense with 16 tackles. Story had 11 and Wolfer finished with 10.
Peppard passed for 181 yards and ran for 73, while Story gained 62 yards on the ground. KC Spencer had three catches for 58 yards and also intercepted a pass.
The Loggers travel to face Quilcene (2-1) this Saturday.
Crescent 26, Oakville 20
Oakville 0 0 14 6— 20
Crescent 12 8 0 6— 26
First Quarter
C—Fletcher 18 pass from Peppard (conversion failed)
C—Fletcher 10 (conversion failed)
Second Quarter
C—West 35 pass from Peppard (Story pass from Peppard)
Third Quarter
O—1 run (conversion failed)
O—85 run (run good)
Fourth Quarter
O—31 run (conversion failed)
C—West 65 fumble recovery (conversion failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing—C: Fletcher 15-87, Peppard 15-73, Story 12-62.
Passing—C: Peppard 12-25-2, 181.
Receiving—C: Fletcher 4-71, Spencer 3-58, West 1-35, Story 4-17.
Boys Tennis
Roughriders take second
PORT ORCHARD — Port Angeles finished second against eight teams from four difference leagues at the Central Kitsap/South Kitsap Fall Invitational Tennis Tournament at South Kitsap High School.
The Class 2A Roughriders lost in the championship round against 4A Gig Harbor in No. 2 singles (Elliott Soelter), No. 1 doubles (Alex Brown and Tanner Gochnour) and No. 3 doubles (Kody Kuch and Ben Basden).
In No. 1 singles, Port Angeles’ Janson Pederson lost in the championship round to 3A Sumner, and No. 4 doubles (Josh Hendry and Nick Fritschler) lost in the championship round against 3A Bonney Lake.
Each team played three traditional scoring matches in the tournament. In all, the Riders played for their respective championship in five out of the six player brackets.
“It was a long day — leaving Port Angeles High School at 5 a.m. and returning at 9 p.m. — but extraordinarily rewarding with lots of play against substantially larger schools and great players” Port Angeles coach Gil Stockton said.
“There was considerable growth by all Port Angeles players.”
Stockton awarded the team/match ball to the doubles duo of Gochnour and Brown, citing their “exemplary example of intensity and terrific play.”
“Tanner played his best matches of the season,” Stockton said.
The Roughriders travel to face rival Sequim today at 4 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Eatonville 8, Forks 0
EATONVILLE — The young Spartans fell to the largest Class 1A school in the state on the road Friday.
“Again, [goalkeeper] Tristina Smith played huge and kept the score closer than it should have been,” Forks coach Joe Morton said.
“We are starting to show some improvement in our team play and hope to get on the scoreboard soon.”
As if the five-hour bus ride to Eatonville wasn’t tough enough, Forks’ bus broke down and they had to use an Eatonville bus to get home.
