Sparkling defensive show puts Scotties in 1A final

TACOMA – Freeman defensive tackle Eric Swanson didn’t have to think long when asked how the Scotties shutdown a typically explosive Napavine offense on Saturday afternoon at the Tacoma Dome.

“I’d say we owned their offensive line,” Swanson said.

Swanson and the rest of the Scotties defense sacked Napavine quarterback Lauren Bluhm six times and recorded six tackles for a loss, all totaling 62 yards. They left little doubt from the outset as to which team would survive a matchup of two undefeated teams, romping the Tigers, 28-6 in a State 1A semifinal.

The win bumps the Scotties record to 12-0 and puts them in their first-ever state championship game where they will face Royal (13-0), who upended Friday Harbor 35-21. Napavine ends the year 11-1.

“It’s probably the craziest thing that has ever happened to this team,” Swanson said.

Actually, it’s not all that crazy. Considering the way the Scotties played Saturday, advancing to the state title game makes a lot of sense. They held Bluhm, Napavine’s potential all-state quarterback, to just eight completions for 133 yards, 113 of those yards coming in the second half with Freeman already up 21-0.

“Our star offensive players, when they were in a position to make plays they’d make them and (smack) they’d be shut down,” Napavine coach Bob Hunt said. “Loren Bluhm, I’ve seen him take a play up the middle and run 40-50 yards, but they would just close down on him.”

The Tigers, from the Southwest League, came in averaging nearly 35 points per game, but scored just three in their win over Kalama last weekend. They had trouble putting together any sort of successful drive against the Freeman defense, failing to move the ball over the 50 the entire first half.

“Napavine is an excellent football club,” Freeman coach Jeff Smith said. “They put a lot of points up all season. Truthfully, we didn’t feel comfortable until that last drive.”

But the Scotties seemed to have complete control of the game from their first play. That’s when running back Kevin Hatch ran a sweep up the right sideline 43 yards for a touchdown – not even two minutes into the game. Hatch, who is also the placekicker, scored all of the Scotties’ 21 first-half points. He finished with three touchdowns and 170 yards on 21 carries.

“He reads the field extremely well, he reads his blockers extremely well and he has that extra little burst just in the right places,” Smith said of Hatch. “It just makes him extremely dangerous.”

The Scotties scored their last touchdown of the game on their first drive of the second half. Facing fourth and one on their own 47-yard line, punter Andrew Wilkerson faked the punt and zig zagged his way 53 yards, escaping three tackles for the touchdown.

The Tigers scored their only touchdown with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. Bluhm completed a 35-yard pass to Jacob Werner, putting them on the five-yard line. From there, Shad Griffith ran it in for the touchdown. Their point after attempt was blocked.

Freeman quarterback Andrew Dresback had a dismal day passing, completing 4 of 12 passes for just 29 yards but the play of Hatch and the Scotties defense was enough.