Shockers lose to Entiat

Dillon McCullough takes a hand-off from Nolan Ruud on the way to a touchdown. (Joel Harding photo)

By Joel Harding
Empire Press Correspondent

In a game where the teams moved up and down the field and scored with relative ease, the Waterville/Mansfield 11 lost to the Entiat Tigers Oct. 16 by a score of 86-38. Entiat scored twice before the Shockers put points on the board, but then the score-fest began. The major difference was that the Tigers scored mostly on long runs or passes, while Waterville/Mansfield depended on their bruising ground game and shorter passes for points.

The first score by the Shockers was classic. With Zane Salcido and Dillon McCullough grinding out the yards, Waterville/Mansfield marched down the field. McCullough had one 10-yard scamper, then punched it in from the 1 for the touchdown. On the next score, it was McCullough all the way. He recovered a fumble on the kickoff and returned it to the Shocker 45 yard line. He gained three yards, then broke loose for a 51-yard run to the 1 yard line. One the next play he crossed the goal line for a score. In the second quarter, McCullough tore through the Tigers with a 50-yard run, with no stops, to the end zone.

Near the end of the first half, Waterville/Mansfield crossed the goal line once again. This time, Cole Koenig, Nolan Ruud and McCullough teamed up for the score. Interspersed between McCullough’s runs, Ruud hit Koenig with a couple of 25-yard passes. The second was a touchdown strike. Ruud’s run around left end added two more points with the conversion.

In the third quarter, Ruud again mixed runs and passes. With McCullough chewing up yards on the ground, Ruud went to the air on several occasions. Both completions were to Lakin Thomsen. The first was a nice 20-yard gain and the second was a five-yard touchdown strike to Thomsen, the tight end. For the final Shocker score, Ruud worked with Thomsen, Koenig and Salcido. After Salcido gained nine yards on two runs, Koenig caught a short pass for the first down. Then Thomsen and Ruud went to work with two completions totaling 15 yards. Ruud gained nine on a bootleg play and Salcido gained 10 on a run. With two yards left for the score, Salcido pulled Tiger tacklers across the goal line for another six points.

The Waterville/Mansfield boys take on Almira-Coulee/Hartline at Coulee City Oct. 23.

Defensive starters Dillon McCullough (43), Tyler Tollackson (42), Zane Salcido (41), Thomas Mosier (23) and Nolan Ruud (3) are introduced before the Entiat game. (Joel Harding photo)

The Shockers line up in a spread offensive formation against the Tigers. (Joel Harding photo)