Thunderbirds erase early deficit, then roll

Hockinson scored on the first play of scrimmage, but the third-ranked Tumwater Thunderbirds put up 35 unanswered first-half points and continued the offensive performance with 20 more in the second half for a 55-13 non-league victory over the Hawks at Nautilus Field on Friday in Brush Prairie.

Tumwater (4-1) built a 35-7 halftime lead, scoring its first touchdown on a 40-yard run by Christian Bush and following up that one with Daniel Hinkle’s 25- and 53-yard touchdown passes to Kyle Warner and Zach Wimberly, respectively.

The T-Birds had two more scores before halftime – including Riley Prentice’s 1-yarder near the end of the first half – to take a comfortable halftime lead.

Warner finished with three touchdowns, including a 94-yard kickoff return and a 9-yard touchdown pass from Hinkle with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. Andrew Brown scored on an 63-yarder in the third quarter to increase the lead to 55-7.

Olympia 45, Mount Tahoma 0: The Bears earned their third straight victory thanks to 21-point first quarter outburst. The defense also came up with big plays, keeping the Thunderbirds out of the end zone.

“Our offense got off to a great start,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said. “They scored on three of our first four possessions. Our defense pitched a great shutout.”

Spenser Killman had four touchdowns – three rushing and one receiving. His longest TD run was a 39-yarder for the Bears’ opening score of the game.

Northwest Christian 36, Raymond 21: The Navigators improved to 4-1, with all of their touchdowns coming from Steven Dunn and Ben Connor.

With the score tied 7-all at halftime, Northwest Christian put up 29 second-half points. The win came with some sloppiness, Navigators coach Pete Fulton said.

“It was an ugly game,” Fulton said, “but exciting. “There were lots of mistakes tonight, for both teams.”

Northwest Christian fumbled three times – including scoring on one of its own fumbles.

Chehalis 35, River Ridge 0: The Hawks couldn’t match their best start in school history, with the sixth-ranked Bearcats keeping River Ridge out of the end zone. Chehalis quarterback Mitch Gueller had touchdown runs of 27 yards and 5 yards and threw a TD pass to Brennen Casteel.

River Ridge drops to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Evergreen Conference.

Black Hills 40, Aberdeen 31: The Wolves earned their first victory on the season, thanks to big rushing games by three players – Trent Alsin, Evan Jackson and Mahliek Roberts.

Black Hills (1-4) led 27-14 halftime and never trailed in the game. Alsin, the Wolves’ speedy quarterback, had 11 rushes for 160 yards and scored three touchdowns. Jackson had 14 rushes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and Roberts had 12 carries for 107 yards.

“We’re excited to get a win,” Black Hills coach Jack Zilla said. “Going into the game, we could’ve bene considered the best 0-4 team in the state. We’ve lost a few heartbreakers.”

The Wolves’ had two one-point losses in their first two games – a 29-28 loss to 1A Montesano and a 41-40 loss to 4A Shelton.

Hoquiam 28, Rochester 0: Sophomore Evan Erickson had two first-half touchdowns – a 1-yard run and a 30-yard pass to Jerid Ronquillo, as the Grizzlies shut out the Warriors.

The Rochester offense was held to 150 yards of total offense, and quarterback Chris Bishop was sacked five times.

Rainier 32, Elma 14: It didn’t take long into the first quarter before momentum swung toward the Rainier offense. After the game was tied 7-all, the Mountaineers scored 19 straight points to take a 26-7 lead.

“We’re pretty darn happy,” Rainier coach Jeff Johnson said. “We started running the ball, and our kids finally played up to their potential.”