Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

Chiawana comes up short

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

It was George S. Patton who said fatigue makes cowards of us all.

But Patton never met Jordan Downing or Nick Vincent.

There were no cowards on the field during Chiawana's 21-12 loss to Eastmont on Thursday at Edgar Brown, but it sure wouldn't hurt the Riverhawks to have a few more players at their disposal.

"It's hard," said Chiawana coach Steve Graff said softly, shaking his head. "They're great kids and very coachable. We just physically can't get the job done. ... Vincent, Pat Sullivan, Nick Mackay -- they all played the whole game. But you turn around to find someone to rest them, and there's no one."

Downing led all rushers with 147 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, and Vincent finished with 11 tackles from his middle linebacker position. But the pair couldn't compensate for a young team that struggled to stop big plays.

Enrique Espinoza ran for 130 yards on 13 carrries and had touchdown runs of 30 and 46 yards to anchor the Wildcats' victory.

"Big plays were everything. One player makes a mistake and (Espinoza's) gone," Vincent said. "We're not very good at tackling in the open field."

Chiawana quarterback Luc Graff completed 10 of 25 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. But the junior also threw four interceptions, including two in the last 4:05.

"The last couple games we've had a chance to win," coach Graff said. "We just can't finish."