The Pirates’ offensive woes continued last week, and for the first time all season, they were unable to find the end zone, losing to the Cascade Christian Cougars 44-0.
It was the homecoming game at Sunset Stadium in Sumner for the Cougars, last year’s state 1A football champions. They lived up to their reputation, successfully shutting down every Pirate drive for the duration of the game.
The Pirates’ defense set the tone for the first set of downs, and thanks to a sack by Adrian St. Germain, Cascade was forced to punt, going four and out. And then the first wheel came off the Pirates’ bus.
Vashon’s first possession, an unfortunate snap to punter Bryce Hoisington ended up in the end zone for a safety, spotting the Cougars an early 2-0 lead with eight minutes to go in the first quarter.
After solid running by the Cougars, marked by good defensive play from St. Germain, Ron Krieger and Simon Perrin, Cascade scored its first touchdown of the night, and with five minutes to go in the first quarter, it was up 9-0.
Perrin received the kickoff, and Vashon took over on the 22-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, VHS fumbled the ball with Cascade recovering. Vashon continued to shoot itself in the foot with two costly penalties negating the sound defense of Clyde Pruett and Jackson Bard, and the Cougars were back in the end zone one minute later. The score: 16-0.
Kickoff receiver Perrin again got the call, and the Pirates finally started moving the ball down the field behind Hoisington’s longest run of the night, a slick 34-yarder. St. Germain contributed a Gumby-style twist and roll run for 15 yards that took eight Cougars to bring him down. Vashon was within sight of the end zone at the 30-yard line, when a fumble, recovered by the Pirates, cost them a down and the momentum. After an incomplete pass, Vashon turned the ball over on downs. Key defensive stops by Carlos Hernandez, Edgar Polkat and St. Germain kept the Cougars out of the end zone through the rest of the first quarter.
After an uneventful start to the second quarter, Cascade ran a punt back to the 19-yard line, and three plays later hit the end zone for another score and extra point, bringing the score to 23-0 with seven minutes to go in the half. Turnovers continued to plague the Pirates when a fourth down pass intended for Polkat was intercepted and run back to the oneyard line, with Hoisington making the critical stop. The Cougars scored on the next play, and with the conversion, the score was 30-0.
VHS’ Arthur Moore got the kickoff, and Vashon mounted its longest series of the night with multiple short gains by Hoisington, but 10 snaps later turned the ball over on downs. Cascade’s next possession was marked by three penalties, but the highlight was Polkat batting away a pass, leading to a Cougar punt. Vashon took over on the 36-yard line and closed out the first half with its third turnover of the night with an interception on the first play.
The Cougars kicked off to start the second half, and Moore ran it back 15 yards, giving the Pirates the ball on the 30. Once again, the Pirates shut their own drive down with another costly fumble that was recovered by Cascade. One deep pass play later the Cougars scored, and with the extra point the score was 37-0 with nine minutes to go in the third quarter. Moore added on another 11-yard kickoff return, and the Pirates began again. Unbelievably, there was yet another Pirate fumble, again recovered by the Cougars. This time, the Pirates struck back with Polkat snagging an interception on the first play.
Vashon’s next possession got off to a strong start with a complete pass to Logan Nelson and good runs by St. Germain and Hoisington. And then, the last wheel came off the Pirated’ bus with the sixth turnover, another interception. The Cougars mounted a drive behind solid runs, racking up five first downs en route to their last score of the night with less than a minute to go in the third quarter. The score hit 44-0, and there it sat through the rest of the game.
The Pirates cobbled together a good drive to start the fourth quarter with short runs by Connor Hoisington, Bryce Hoisington, St. Germain and a solid pass to Pruett moving them down field. Unable to convert on a fourth and one, the Pirates handed the ball back to Cascade with seven minutes to go in the game. The rest of the battle played out in midfield, and on Vashon’s next possession, sophomore running back Armando Oatman got the ball. Unfortunately, one last Vashon fumble on fourth down turned the ball over to the Cougars. Joe Ghigleri contributed a nice sack, but the Cougars were able to run out the clock and mercifully end the game.
With two games to go, the Pirates are looking to get back on track and end the season on a high note. They travel to Port Townsend on Friday to take on Chimacum High School. There will be one more home game on Friday, Nov. 6.
