Onalaska breaks three-decade title drought, beats Kalama for Class 2B title

LAKEWOOD — It’s been over 30 years since Onalaska last won a Class 2B state football championship.

Well, it had been over 30 years.

The Loggers last won the title in 1986 when they finished 13-0. They secured another championship and another 13-0 season with a 48-30 victory over two-time defending champion Kalama on Saturday at Harry E. Lang Stadium.

“It means everything to this community,” Onalaska coach Mason Saade said. “Look at the stands. It’s huge for a small school in southwest Washington. Nine years ago, we got into this gig and we were 0-9 and getting our teeth kicked in. … Last year, we finally got a group of kids that believed in themselves and got into the state playoffs and now here we are.”

The top-seeded Loggers aren’t flashy on offense. They grind down opponents with 205-pound senior fullback Ashton Haight, which occasionally sets up a big play from one of Onalaska’s other offensive weapons.

Haight did his job, rushing for 207 yards on 42 carries and scoring two touchdowns.

“I don’t really look at that kind of stuff,” Haight said. “I just try to go play by play, and as long as we win that’s what I try to do.”

The amount to time that’s passed since the Loggers last championship was not lost on Haight.

“Some of our dads played on that team,” Haight said. “It just feels great to do it. We’ve been kind of in a slump for a long time and to be able to get it done is amazing.”

The workhorse running back set the stage for two big plays by senior running back Cade Lawrence, which put the game out of reach for the third-seeded Chinooks (10-3).

Lawrence scored on runs of 33 and 46 yards in the second half. The 46-yard score gave the Loggers a 32-14 lead and essentially ended any chance of a Kalama comeback.

“That was huge,” Haight said. “We’d run the same play about five times in a row. They had been keying in on it every time. We’d break one to the outside when they weren’t ready for it. That made the game, honestly. Those plays were killer.”