Nov. 7, 2016: Beloved ‘Sting team’ stung at Odessa-Harrington

Terrence Holford gets stopped by Odessa defenders after a nice gain.

Five turnovers bites Inchelium in 60-14 crossover loss

ODESSA—In a game of “Who can figure out who first?” the hosts came out on top. An effective misdirection option running attack by Odessa-Harrington leveled one-loss Inchelium and its ground-and-pound offense, 60-14, Friday night in a 1B football crossover game between league champions. 

The Hornets, however, showed flashes of promise which included scoring the game’s first touchdown and holding a team accustomed to scoring 71 points per game to just 14 first quarter points—a season low for the Titans.

“It was a rough one,” said first-year Inchelium head coach Guy Stensgar, whose team gave up 44 unanswered points. “It’s a learning experience.”

Unlike many other teams in the state, the Hornets—who wrapped up a Panorama League title for the first time as an individual school in 15 years—weren’t in a do or die situation. The crossover simply helped determine who would be seeded better for State 1B Football Tournament play-in games between the two B-8 powerhouses. Odessa-Harrington gets 6-4 Entiat at home, while Inchelium faces Colton—a 7-3 team that outlasted a Touchet team (34-30) that beat the Hornets by 4 points in Week 2—in Kettle Falls. A time for the contest has yet to be officially announced.

Despite an inspiring effort that saw multiple fourth down conversions, Inchelium struggled to maintain possession of the ball, fumbling the ball three times and throwing two interceptions. 

Darrius Garris unclips his helmet following the game.

 “There was a lot of mistakes we shouldn’t have had,” senior offensive and defensive lineman Darrius Garris said. “That’s why we have this week (of practice). We worked a lot for this game but we need to work on our blocking.”

Inchelium—which landed five of its eight players on the Panorama League All-Opponent team last week—was unable to consistently get it going on the ground. The running attack of the bulky Waylon Lelone, which Titan fans called a “Sledgehammer,” Winston Finley and elusive quarterback Jaden Erickson saw a lot less running room Friday. Aside from Erickson’s 12-yard touchdown run a minute and a half into the game, the Hornets struggled to get into open field.

Odessa-Harrington, however, found open space with brothers Sage and Gavin Elder, who accounted for 434 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the night.

“Our defense,” Stensgar said, “we need to button up a couple holes.”

Stensgar was happy with the passing game, which opened up the field in the second half. He swapped Erickson with Mickey Andrews, putting the former at receiver, which resulted in a 49-yard touchdown pass to Finley at the 10:35 mark in the fourth quarter. The Titans continued to pour it on at that point, catching Inchelium off-guard with an onside kick with a 38-point lead and 8 minutes to go. They scored 24 points in that quarter alone to add insult to an Inchelium team that had suffered three injuries to its 11-deep squad.

Waylon Lelone walks off the field after the game.

“None of these teams are going to take it easy on us,” Andrews said.

One category Inchelium did win was in fan support. The small town on the Colville Reservation seemed to value 37-degree football more than the hosts, as its fans carried approximately a 1:1 ratio. The Inchelium-Gifford Ferry even provided an after hours return trip for its team. 

“Keep me updated and let me know when the game’s over,” driver Lanny Boyd wrote on Facebook.

The ferry won’t be necessary this week. But for Inchelium, loser-out football starts Friday. The Hornets will look to rediscover their dynamic offense that averaged 53 points and stout defense that surrendered just over 15 points per game through its first nine games.

“We just gotta come play now,” Andrews said. “Now we know.” 

Inchelium’s hot start saw the team march downfield for the first touchdown, followed by a Waylon Lelone two-point conversion. Odessa-Harrington’s first possession saw them turn the ball over on downs at the 10-yard line with 6:03 in the first.

Upon receiving the ball for the next possession, the Hornets converted a fourth down on their own 21-yard line to keep the drive alive. But in four more downs they’d end up punting the ball away. 

With 1:53 to in the first, the Titans caught Inchelium off-guard with a 26-yard play-action touchdown pass from Camden Weber to Josh Clark. The Hornets’ first play on the following possession resulted in a fumble, which Odessa-Harrington promptly scored on a reverse from 19 yards out to go up 14-8.

Turnovers continued for Inchelium after that when a catch and fumble on fourth down set up Odessa-Harrington on its own 30 yard line. The Titans converted a fourth down on the drive, which ended with a Weber 7-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 20-8 with 5:08 to halftime.

The Hornet run game saw Lelone get a first down, before a turnover on downs the next possession. A big penalty allowed Odessa-Harrington to red zone again, where it capitalized with a Sage Elder 18-yard touchdown run to go up 28-8 with 42 seconds until intermission.

Out of halftime, Odessa-Harrington fumbled the ball away on its first possession. Inchelium took 4:40 off the clock by keeping its drive alive with a Finley fourth down conversion run. At the Titan five yard line, a fumbled snap recovered by the hosts saw the drive go for null.

Odessa-Harrington marched down the field 90 yards, capped off by a screen pass on the touchdown from Weber to Sage Elder.

Like it had previously in the game, Inchelium moved the sticks on fourth down on its next drive. But another fumble handed it right back to the Titans.

Just 19 seconds into the fourth quarter, Titan running back Gavin Elder took the ball 72 yards to paydirt for the game’s longest scoring play to go up 44-8.

After nearly 36 minutes of scoreless play, the Hornets added a touchdown on the Finley pass from Andrews. 

Sage Elder’s 1- and 36-yard touchdown runs 34 seconds apart ended the game’s scoring with 7:58 to go.

Notes: All-Opponent selections for Inchelium were Lelone, Garris, Erickson, Finley and Cody Perriman. … Joe Pakootas, a Candidate for the United States Representative in Washington’s 5th District, was in attendance with his wife and grandchildren.