Second-Half Rally Pushes DW Past TCP, 35-20

PASCO – Nothing went right for Dayton-Waitsburg in the first half of the game here against Tri-Cities Prep, save for Travis Crockett's 150 yards rushing.

But the DW team came out after the half with a new offensive backfield lineup, and romped in the second half to pull out a 35-20 victory.

Crockett again led the offense, scoring three touchdowns and accounting for 373 yards total offense. After only three games played, Crockett has scored 11 TDs and is 27 yards shy of 1,000 total yards in offense this season.

DW moved to the top of the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference standings, with a league record of 2-0. They are 3-1 overall. They are tied for the league lead with Kittitas in the EWAC.

TCP, a team known for its ground attack, surprised DW with a spread offense and scored twice through the air. A 43-yard touchdown completion late in the first quarter was followed a second, covering 35 yards on TCP's first drive of the second quarter. TCP attempted 30 passes in the game, compared to 18 for DW.

DW coach Troy Larsen said he was very disappointed in his team's play in the first half. "We made a lot of dumb mistakes and killed ourselves," he said. He pointed particularly to several offensive holding and blocking penalties that killed drives, along with two lost fumbles and an interception.

Larsen and his coaching staff made some changes in the offensive scheme at halftime that seemed to give positive results.

"We mixed things around a little bit, putting different guys in different spots," Larsen said. "Mostly we were just trying to wake them up."

Larsen said he could tell the TCP players were getting tired in the third quarter, so he went to his running game with Martin carrying the ball up the middle. "Our plan was 'pound 'em, pound 'em, pound 'em," he said. "We did that a few times, and then gave the ball to Crockett and got big gains."

On DW's first drive of the second half, the team got a big break on fourth down. Quarterback Jacob Dunn, who is also the team's punter, dropped back to kick, then executed a flawless fake and threw for a first down. Two plays later, Crockett sprinted for a 45-yard TD to put his team on the board.

"That gave us the momentum," Larsen said. "TCP rushed hard to try to block the punt and Dunn made a great play. They were hoping to put the game away with block, and that play kept us alive."

DW got a second TD in the third quarter on a 13-yard pass from Dunn to receiver Tanner Bren. A two-point conversion on a Cal Martin run gave DW the lead, 14-12.

DW built their lead to 28-12 in the early part of the fourth quarter, on a Crockett 66-yard run, and later, a 43-yard Dunn scoring pass to Bren.

In the meantime, DW was able to shut down the Jaguar passing game. "We changed up our zones and switched guys around a lot," Larsen said. "We stayed with the four-man front but went cover 3 and cover 4. We got everybody to stay in their zone, and it worked."

TCP got on the board one more time in the fourth quarter, on a three-yard running TD. But DW answered quickly, getting a 23-yard touchdown run from Crockett. Place kicker Tyler Hoffman was successful on his final three point-after attempts.

For the game, Crockett had 335 yards rushing on 21 carries, including three touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 38 yards, giving him 373 yards total offense.

Two of Bren's three catches went for touchdowns, and he had a total of 73 yards receiving.

Martin rushed eight times for 18 yards and grabbed two passes for 13 more yards.

At quarterback, Dunn was 11 for 18 passing, for 144 yards and two TDs. He also threw one interception.

On defense, Dunn made two key interceptions to stop TCP drives. "Dunn had a great defensive game," Larsen said.

Martin led his team with 12 tackles. Joe Adams and Drake Lamere each had seven.

DW makes the long trip up the Columbia Gorge to take on 1-3 Lyle-Wishram Friday night.

DW 0 - 0 - 14 - 21   35

TCP 6 - 6 - 0 - 8   20

TCP - Amato 43 pass from Baker (pass failed).

TCP - Amato 35 pass from Baker (kicked failed).

D-W - Crockett 45 yd run (kick failed).

D-W - Bren 13 pass from Dunn (Martin run).

D-W - Crockett 66 yd run (Hoffman Kick).

D-W - Bren 43 yd pass from Dunn (Hoffman kick).

TCP - Dickson 3 yd run (Baker run).

D-W - Crockett 23 yd run (Hoffman kick).

D-W   _   TCP

First Downs   14  -  14

Rushes/yards  36-333   37-161

Passing yards 144  188

Punts  1-19  3-38

Fumbles-lost   4-2   3-0

Penalties- yards   9-86  6-47

Individual Statistics

RUSHING - D-W: Crockett 21-335-3, Martin 8-18, Dunn 1-6, Team 6-(-26). TCP: Valencia 11-36, Dickson 3-9-1, Baker 22-118, Team 1-(-2).

PASSING - D-W: Dunn 11-18-1, 144 yards, 2 TD's: TCP Baker 12-30-2, 188 yards, 2 TD's.

RECEIVING - D-W: Crockett 4-38, Martin 2-13, Kleck 2-20, Bren 3-73-2; TCP: Amato 3-87-2, Valencia 1-(-2), Dickson 5-41, Dituri 2-52, Hiett 1-10.

Tackles - D-W: Martin 12, Joe Adams 7, Lamere, 7, T.Willis 5, Kleck 5, Bren 5, Ky Adams 4, Branson 4, Dunn 3, Crockett 3, Brooks 3, Knowles 2, Philbrooks 2, Kitselman 2, Miller 1, Hoffman 1, Faughtenberry 1