Tonasket junior running back Keegan McCormick runs toward the end zone for the first touchdown of the night, scored 23 seconds into the game, as the last Brewster defender with a chance of stopping him, freshman defensive back Danny Ramirez, falls to the

TONASKET – The Tigers shut-out the Brewster Bears for a 34-0 Homecoming victory on Friday, Oct. 2.

On the first play of the night, junior running back Keegan McCormick broke away from the Brewster defense for a 59-yard touchdown, scored 23 seconds into the first quarter. After the extra point kick from senior quarterback Wade Detillian, the Tigers were ahead by seven.

“I thought we got off to a real quick start and then we had a little mental let-down,” Jay Hawkins, Tonasket head coach, said.

The rest of the first quarter remained score-less and the Tigers didn’t make it back to the end zone until a quarter of the way through the second quarter. For the second Tiger touchdown, Detillian connected with senior wide receiver Damon Sprague for a 5-yard touchdown with 8:59 left in the first half. Detillian kicked in the extra point. The game went into half-time with the Tigers up by 14.

“I think it took us toward the end of the first half to really calm down and start playing well after that first touchdown,” Hawkins said.

Ed Ashworth, Brewster’s head coach, said he was happy with the first half.

“Going into half-time down by two touchdowns was the closest we’ve been in a number of games,” Ashworth said. “It all started to fall apart in the second half.”

The Tigers came out of half-time ready to go. They first Brewster to turnover the ball on downs on their first possession of the half and then controlled the field until senior running back Andrew Grillo scored the third Tiger touchdown on an 8-yard run. With Detillian’s extra point kick the score became 21-0 with 6:04 left in the third quarter.

Penalties on Brewster’s next possession put the Bears into a first and 20 situation and they were forced to punt back to Tonasket. Three minutes later, the Tigers were in the end zone again after a 22-yard pass from Detillian to junior wide receiver Tyler Laurie. Detillian’s extra point kick attempt was no good and the game went into the fourth quarter with the Tigers up 27-0.

The final score of the night came half-way through the fourth quarter when sophomore running back John Stedtfeld broke away from the Brewster defense for an 80-yard touchdown. After Detillian’s extra point kick, the score was 34-0.

McCormick said the first play of the game didn’t surprise him that much because the offensive line is always ready to go on that play and that catches other teams off guard.

“We had a bunch of mistakes on defensive in the first quarter but we picked it up,” Lucio Maldonado, senior defensive lineman, said. “We shut them out so we didn’t do too bad.”

On the passing game, Detillian completed nine of 18 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. The top receivers were Laurie with six for 57 yards and Sprague with two for 25 yards. On rushing, McCormick carried 16 times for a net gain of 181 yards, Stedtfeld carried twice for 95 yards and Grillo carried five times for 65 yards.

For Brewster, sophomore quarterback Eli Knapp completed six of 12 passes for 46 yards while junior Clark Wengel completed one of six passes for nine yards. The top Brewster receivers were sophomore wide receiver Eric Knapp who received the ball three times for 26 yards and senior offensive lineman Atavde Gamaz who received once for 15 yards. Junior running back Manny Rubio carried the ball ten times for 39 yards while junior running back Corey Squires carried 19 times for 29 yards.

“We had a really good week of practice but we lost a little focus after that first play,” Hawkins said. “You don’t see five guys score in one game, though. We have some versatility on offense. These guys are really playing well together. They really enjoy their team and the game, so I’m real happy with that.”

“Cashmere is a really good team; we’re going to have to do our jobs and compete,” Maldonado said. “We can’t have as many mistakes as tonight.”

The Tigers (1-2, 2-2) next travel to Cashmere on Friday, Oct. 9 to play at 7 p.m.