Yellow Pages
CONCRETE — For one drive, Cory Hoveskeland seemed to be playing on dry land while the rest of his Darrington teammates and the Concrete Lions slogged through the mud.
Hoveskeland’s strong first quarter, and 24-yard touchdown run, proved to be the difference Thursday as Darrington beat Concrete 7-0 in the Northwest 2B League finale.
The best news on the day for Concrete was that the game was meaningless in terms of standings or playoff positioning. Orcas Island’s upset of Darrington five days earlier had clinched the league title for Concrete.
“We didn’t seem to be emotionally charged,” Lions coach Ron Rood said. “I don’t know if it was because we had wrapped up the league title, but we didn’t seem to have that edge.”
The Lions (5-1, 8-2) will host Adna in the first round of the state playoffs. The time and date of the game have yet to be determined.
“It’s disappointing to lose going into the playoffs, but we’re strong mentally,” Rood said.
Darrington (4-2, 7-3) has a harder road, beginning with a three-way playoff Tuesday to try and move into the playoffs.
“This was a huge confidence booster for the kids,” Loggers coach Chad Monteith said. “Concrete is a good team, well coached. I knew if we played hard, we had a chance.”
Hoveskeland finished with 152 yards on 17 carries, 92 of them coming in the first quarter and 74 of those coming on one drive. He got his team out of the shadow of its own end zone by breaking a tackle and busting loose for 32 yards, followed by a 17-yard scamper then, after a short gain, broke another tackle around the right side and went 24 yards for a touchdown.
Six of his first nine carries covered at least 10 yards.
“He’s come up big like that all year,” Monteith said. “He’s been our leading rusher and our leader.”
From that point on, the Lions’ defense stepped up, and Darrington never threatened again. The Concrete defense held the Loggers to 32 yards in the second half. Hoveskeland actually finished with more yards (152) than his team total (150).
Concrete moved the ball more effectively in the second half, but its first three drives after the half ended in turnovers and several others were stymied by key penalties.
Kyler Howell had 94 yards on 17 carries to move past 1,100 on the season, and Derek Rice added 54 on seven for Concrete, which had 164 total yards, all on the ground. The steady downpour turned the field from grass to mud before the game even started, and continued throughout, rendering a passing game non-existent.
• Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or by e-mail at
