By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON
On a damp field Friday night, the North Beach Hyaks ended up on the wrong end of a 34-0 opening home game against a Mossyrock Vikings team that committed seven personal fouls, had a player ejected, and had their starting quarterback back in the lineup to throw his third touchdown pass on the game’s final play.
Some might see it as an insult that was added to an injury the Hyaks suffered two days earlier that put them in a big hole. After their backup quarterback quit the team Wednesday morning, starter and co-captain Kyle Fry went down in practice that afternoon with a leg injury. That left freshman Josh Bighead fewer than two days to get ready for his first start under center.
Head coach Ric Dycus said the move further hampered his young squad because, “Josh is arguably our best receiver. I’m really proud of the effort that Josh made… he did everything we could ask of him.”
Mossyrock capitalized on Hyak errors, with a fumble recovery yielding an 18-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and a blocked punt being returned 20 yards for a score in the second stanza. A 40-yard TD pass made it 20-0 at the half.
Despite the score, Dycus said he saw some progress on defense, including several fourth down stops and an interception. He noted that Jonathan Jerome, Westin Fruh, Nesta Delange and Matt Smith “played the entire game, both sides, nearly every play.” The other good news is that x-rays of Fry’s injured leg were negative, and the coach considers him to be day-to-day, possibly ready for the next game.
Dycus continued, “Obviously this is truly a rebuilding year. We’re still making youthful mistakes, and still working on getting tackling going the right direction… our players didn’t always wrap them up, and they got big plays. We are working on getting all of our players on every play to finish.”
At 7 p.m. this Friday, the Hyaks host cross-Harbor rival the Ocosta Wildcats, a team Dycus said “may be one of the two or three best teams in the league. They’re loaded, with a core group that has some experience together.
“Now, we’re in the same place they were a couple of years ago,” when Ocosta went 2-6, including a 56-0 loss to the Hyaks. “It’s no secret we may be the youngest team in 2B this year – the most freshmen and fewest seniors.”
