By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
FORKS — Neah Bay’s Billy Parkin III is sure to be sore this week, but he probably doesn’t mind.
The Red Devils’ running back rushed the ball 43 times for 308 yards and six touchdowns as Neah Bay beat Tacoma Baptist 56-30 Friday night at Spartan Stadium in Forks to win its Quad District playoff, qualifying for the Class 1B state football tournament.
After a one-year hiatus from the eight-team state tournament, the Red Devils are back. It is the 10th time in the past 11 years Neah Bay is in the state playoffs.
“We executed very well,” said coach TJ Greene. “We’ve been talking about putting together four good quarters . . . that’s one of the best weeks we’ve had.”
The Red Devils (5-5) will hear today who they will play at state after the WIAA’s Class 1B/2B Seeding Committee meets to decide matchups. Look on www.peninsuladailynews.com for updated information this evening.
Coach TJ Greene said having a couple of offensive lineman back helped lead Parkin to his amazing game — 340-pound David Martinez and 325-pound O’Shea Wachendorf.
“You don’t get the kind of numbers Parkin had without the work of the O-line,” said Greene.
Still, Greene didn’t downplay Parkin’s game. “That was impressive,” he said. “He was getting us first down after first down.”
On top of all that yardage, Parkin also had 12 tackles as a linebacker on defense.
Parkin had touchdown runs of 5, 12, 49, 6, 26 and 4 yards. Behind his yardage, the Red Devils got off to a 14-0 lead and built the lead to 32-16, but the Crusaders came back in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns to make it 32-30.
Parkin cramped up in the third quarter, Greene said, and with him out, Tacoma Baptist was able to come back a bit on Neah Bay. But, the Red Devils responded with a 59-yard, eight-play drive to score to make it 40-30 at the end of the third. They followed that up with a 16-0 fourth quarter to seal the win. All three of those finals TDs were scored by Parkin.
And to cap off his big day, Parkin even scored the final point-after conversion late in the fourth quarter.
Neah Bay finished with 419 yards from scrimmage. Toby Croy had a 61-yard kick return in the first quarter that helped set up one touchdown four plays later and he had a 19-yard reception for another touchdown.
Alan Tyler also had a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first half as the Red Devils forced three huge turnovers, two of them inside the Neah Bay 15-yard line.
Maric Soeneke led the Red Devils with 15 tackles, while Aric Lyons had 11 and Jay Brunk 10. Brunk also had an interception and two fumble recoveries, including a recovery in the end zone.
Neah Bay 56, Tacoma Baptist 30
TB 0 16 14 0 — 30
NB 14 18 8 16 — 56
First Quarter
NB—Parkin 5 run (PAT failed)
NB—Croy 19 pass from Soeneke (Croy run)
Second Quarter
TB—Lynn 8 run (Kitstelman run)
NB—Parkin 12 run (PAT failed
NB— Parkin 49 run (PAT failed)
NB—Tyler 47 INT return (PAT failed)
TB—Tangen 16 pass from Lynn (Lynn run)
Third Quarter
TB—Kitselman 14 pass from Lynn (PAT failed)
TB—Lynn 45 run (Lynn run)
NB—Parkin 6 run (Soeneke run)
Fourth Quarter
NB—Parkin 26 run (Brunk pass from Soeneke)
NB—Parkin 4 run (Parkin run)
Individual Stats
Rushing—NB: Parkin 43-308, Croy 10-32, Soeneke 4-29, Johnson 1-20, J. Brunk 1-1, Tyler 2-7.
Receiving—NB: Croy 1-19, J. Brunk 1-3
Passing—NB: Soeneke 2-5-22, TD.
