CHS drubs Tenino in 'fairly typical season opener'

"We (coaches) saw some good things and some bad things," Bruins Coach Larry McCutcheon said in assessing CHS' season-opening effort.

Among the good things they saw was the running of senior Bryan Charters, who, after two years as CHS' starting quarterback, made his regular-season debut at tailback.

Charters ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns in eight carries.

His first touchdown run came on the Bruins' second play from scrimmage and covered 96 yards.

It followed a defensive stand by Columbia's Black Hat defense that stopped Tenino's game-opening drive at the CHS 3-yard line.

The Beavers started at their 22 and, aided by 34 yards in penalties on the Bruins, consumed nearly 10 minutes and moved the chains liberally, picking up 75 of their total yards and half of their 10 first downs during the drive.

"I was thinking, `If they're going to do this (chew up ground and time) all night, they're not going to leave us much time to operate offensively,'" McCutcheon noted.

As things turned out, CHS didn't waste a lot of time during its possessions, marching the ball down the field and sticking it in the end zone.

The Bruins increased their 8-0 first-quarter lead to 24-0 in the second, thanks to a 44-yard scoring run by senior slotback Keith McMillen (115 total yards on the night) and a 2-yard plunge by junior quarterback Eric Crause.

After taking the second-half kickoff at its 35, Columbia advanced the ball down field quickly and capped a 65-yard drive when Crause (7 for 9 passing for 115 yards) connected with McMillen from 13 yards out. Crause added the two-point conversion -- his second of three such conversions -- to put CHS on top 32-7.

Charters concluded the scoring with a 3-yard run later in the third quarter.

"Our offensive execution was pretty good. We did a nice job running the ball but our passing game and blocking need to get better," McCutcheon analyzed.

On defense, senior linebacker Mike Wild stood out, getting credit for five solo tackles and eight assists. Sophomore tackle James Cowan got in on 10 stops (five solo), and sophomore linebacker Dane Ludwig made four tackles and four assists.

In addition, Wild, Ludwig and sophomore defensive end Cory Lampe each recorded a tackle for loss. Sophomore Phillip Wilson recovered a fumble and had CHS' only quarterback sack.

Yet, McCutcheon said Columbia's defensive performance was far from stellar.

"We really didn't play well defensively the first time Tenino had the ball, we had way too many penalties (8 for 75 yards), and we really didn't tackle well all night," he said, "but we didn't give up a lot (of points or yards) either."

He added, however: "We're still a long ways from being the football team we want to be. That's why it's important that we improve this week and clean up our mistakes."

The Bruins will get the chance to do those things when they entertain the Stevenson Bulldogs Friday night at CHS Stadium. The non-league encounter kicks off at 7:30.