Orting 27, White River 21
A disappointing regular season ended on a sour note Friday night as the White River High Hornets were defeated 27-21 at Orting.
The loss put the wraps on a regular season in which White River won just a single game, the lone victory coming against a Clover Park squad that finished winless. The final regular season tally was 1-6 in South Puget Sound League 2A play, 1-8 overall.
Like most teams falling short of making the playoffs, White River ends its campaign this week with a Thursday night “Week 10” contest. For details, see separate story on this page.
The Hornets fell behind 14-0 Friday when Orting scored the only touchdown of the first quarter, then added another in the second. White River responded in game-tying fashion, however, first getting a scoring pass from Ryan Redford to Ethan Clay. The Hornets’ second TD came on a Justin Tidwell sprint to the end zone from 25 yards out.
Alex Morris was good on a pair of extra-point kicks and the Hornets and Cards were deadlocked at 14.
Orting scored two more rushing touchdowns – one in the second quarter and one in the third – to account for its 27 points. White River tallied the game’s final touchdown in the final period with Tidwell again doing the honors, this time on a short pass from Redford.
Auburn Mountainview 21, Enumclaw 17
All the scoring came in the first half Thursday night as Enumclaw High wrapped up its regular season with a 21-17 loss to Auburn Mountainview at Auburn Memorial Stadium.
All that’s left for the Hornets in the 2015 campaign is a Week 10 game; see separate story on page 13 for details.
Enumclaw concluded the regular season with a 2-5 mark in South Puget Sound League 3A play and went 3-6 overall. The Hornets opened the season with a nonleague victory over White River in the Battle of the Bridge, then added league wins over Peninsula and Auburn Riverside.
Thursday’s loss saw Enumclaw jump on the scoreboard first, thanks to a Garrett Berquist field goal.
Auburn Mountainview (5-2 league, 7-2 overall) was operating at less than full speed, with standout quarterback Gresch Jensen – who will play college ball at the University of Montana – on the sidelines due to injury. In his absence, the Lions counted on running back Bitner Wilson, who scored on a pair of first-quarter, red-zone runs to put the hosts on top 14-3.
The Hornets outscored Mountainview in the second quarter, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win. Connor Pierce sliced the Lion lead when he scored on a 7-yard run, but Auburn Mountainview answered with the game-winner when Wilson took off on a 25-yard TD jaunt.
Pierce scored in the game’s closing minutes on a short touchdown blast to account for the final margin.
Wilson was the difference-maker in the contest, cracking the 100-yard barrier on 20 carries.
