Yellow Pages
DARRINGTON — As much as the Concrete Lions like playing football against their rivals from Darrington, they are just as happy to not have to play them a third time this season.
The Lions clinched the second seed out of the Northwest 2B League to the state playoffs Thursday night, battering a short-handed Darrington team 35-0 in the second meeting of the Saws and Claws rivalry.
Had Darrington won, the teams would have met Tuesday in a play-in game to the state playoffs.
Instead, Concrete (4-2 league, 6-4 overall) will take on Willapa Valley, a game that will be on the road, probably Nov. 14, and likely at a site other than Willapa Valley’s home field, Lions coach Ron Rood said.
“It’s definitely good to not have to play them again,” Concrete junior Kyler Howell said. “Now we have a whole week to get our heads around Willapa Valley.”
Thursday night the Lions dominated on both sides of the football.
Led by Howell’s 138 yards and three touchdowns, Concrete had four backs run for at least 65 yards and was able to control the clock despite a muddy field that made cutting a dicey proposition. Concrete finished with 359 yards on the ground.
The wet field affected both teams, but seemed to hamper Darrington (2-4, 5-5) more.
The Loggers fumbled the ball 10 times in the game, compared to five for Concrete.
The Loggers lost four, including one near the goal line.
The Lions lost one fumble, but got it back the next play on a Loggers fumble.
Defensively, the Lions smothered a Darrington offense hampered by the loss of quarterback Johnny Loughnan, who was out due to injury. The Lions held the Loggers to 70 yards of offense in the first half and just one first down until late in the third quarter.
