Marysville Pilchuck routs Columbia River 63-6, advances to 3A semis

VANCOUVER — It’s not about what’s on the inside when it comes to the Tacoma Dome.

It’s just about getting there.

Marysville Pilchuck clinched a spot in the 3A state semifinals at the Tacoma Dome with a resounding 63-6 victory over Columbia River in a state quarterfinal game Saturday night at Kiggins Bowl.

“Seeing all the hard work that we’ve put in the last three years, all the talk about, ‘Man, maybe this year we can go into that Tacoma Dome and play on that crappy turf everybody talks about — but love every second of it,’” said senior lineman Corbin Ferry. “We’ve dreamed of it for years. That goal is finally a reality. That goal is achieved. Now we’ve got the next one.”

After the game the Tomahawk seniors were all smiles as they thought about the next challenge: undefeated Bellevue. Marysville Pilchuck will face the Wolverines, who have won the past six 3A state tournaments and haven’t lost a game since 2009, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Tacoma Dome.

“That’s what we wanted,” said senior linebacker Drew Hatch. “I wanted it last year too, but now we get a chance at them. I just want to see what we can do. I think we can give them their money’s worth. I’m not saying it’s going to be a game like this. I think we can hang with them. Hopefully, if we execute like we did today, we should do well.”

“Oh gosh. I have never been this excited before in my life,” said senior running/defensive back Killian Page. “I’ve wanted to play Bellevue my whole high school career. Oh man! I want to beat them so bad!”

The victory was all but clinched by the end of the first quarter. It took four plays to cap Marysville Pilchuck’s first scoring drive. The second score came on a one-play 38-yard touchdown run by Page, right after he intercepted Columbia River quarterback Gabe Evenson.

The third drive went 83 yards in two plays, capped by a 45-yard touchdown run from senior running back Austin Joyner.

The Tomahawks scored four touchdowns on their first 10 plays and by the end of the first quarter the rout was on.

“We played extremely well in all parts of the ball game,” Joyner said. “Everybody took care of their assignments and this is the outcome.”

“I think that we physically dominated them on every snap, which is our goal,” Ferry said. “We did our jobs and we did them well.”

Page finished with two interceptions and a fumble recovery on defense, to go along with 14 carries for 187 yards and three touchdowns.

“We just executed everything,” Hatch said. “I don’t think that we could have asked for a better performance from a team standpoint. … We were prepared. Killian was always in the right place at the right time and he had his keys and he read them every time. We were all in the right place. We just seemed to execute well.”

Joyner also had a big day on offense with 200 yards and five touchdowns on 12 carries.

As a team, Marysville Pilchuck (10-1) finished with 491 yards on 43 carries as they ran all over Columbia River (9-3).

“I’m so excited for our community and for our players and fans,” said Marysville Pilchuck head coach Brandon Carson. “It’s been a nice ride. We’re going to go lay it on the line in Tacoma for 48 minutes next Friday. We’re going to take it in. We’re very excited. Our kids are excited. Our community is excited. It’s going to be a whole heck of a lot of fun.”

The Tomahawks defense held Evenson, who had thrown for 2,026 yards coming into the game, to 12-of-31 for 108 yards and two interceptions.

“We practiced really hard,” Page said. “We watched a lot of film so we kind of figured it out. We knew we needed to execute so we just played our hearts out.”

Not even a four-hour bus ride could slow Marysville Pilchuck down. At least one Tomahawk was ready to hop back on the bus and head straight to Tacoma to face Bellevue.

“I’m so ready to go. I want to play them right now,” Page said. “But we need to focus up and we need to practice hard.”

Several Marysville Pilchuck players vowed to give it their all in practice as they prepare for the Wolverines.

“I’m so excited. This has been all we’ve talked about the last three years,” Ferry said. “We’re going to go to the Tacoma Dome and we’re going to play as hard as we can for 48 minutes and see what happens. I’m not scared of anybody.”

Added Joyner: “I’ve been wanting to go to the Dome ever since I knew about it.”

Boggs Field at the Kiggins Bowl

Marysville Pilchuck 28 21 14 0 — 63

Columbia River 0 0 0 6 — 6

MP—Austin Joyner 12 run (Sebastian Navarro kick)

MP—Killian Page 38 run (kick failed)

MP—Joyner 45 run (Joyner run)

MP—Joyner 48 run (Navarro kick)

MP—Joyner 4 run (Navarro kick)

MP—Joyner 22 run (Navarro kick)

MP—Page 12 run (Navarro kick)

MP—Page 40 run (Navarro kick)